soul
Seeing Yourself As You Truly Are
The art of ‘being seen’ begins within. It is not in the eyes, or heart, of an external beholder. It is the grace of being able to see oneself through the Divine Eyes of our Creator.
Every soul is unique. No two are the same. Each soul emanates from the Supreme Loving Source to offer its unique beauty and pleasure to God in an incomparable, individual way. When we look at ourselves through this lens, the true beauty, light, and power of the spiritual spark of our being shines upon our inner vision.
Relationships offer mirrors too. But what they show vary according to the quality of the reflecting surface. And what we see in them depends upon how well we know, see, and stand in the truth of our own higher self.
For example, if I look at myself in a broken mirror, do I see a crack in my face? I might…if I am not sure of who I am. However, if I know myself to be whole, I can readily recognize that the crack is in the mirror, and not in my face.
Similarly, there are relationships in life that reflect broken images back to us. That does not mean that we are broken, nor that the other person or people involved are broken either. We all have wounds and scars and other gaping holes yet to be healed, or not.
Whatever the case may be, it is the relationship itself that offers up the reflective element. It is the dynamic of exchange that shows itself as either clean, clear, balanced, cracked, smeared, skewed, and so on.
Knowing oneself in truth and wholeness is thus extremely valuable. If we do not possess such certainty of self, we may accept a broken or distorted impression projected by an ill-functioning relationship to be a reflection upon ourselves.
Reconnect And Recharge Your Soul
What a crazy place the world is right now! First wave, second wave, third wave. New virus, old virus, mutant virus. To be vaccinated, or not? Fear, chaos, anxiety. Misinformation, conflicting information, false information. What do we trust? Who do we turn to for guidance?
And the pandemic is not our only concern. Scientists are warning us that the polar ice caps are melting faster than they had anticipated, as global warming causes climate change. The oceans are drowning in our plastic waste and animal species are going extinct.
Whatever will be next? Will things ever get better, or will they get worse? Are we worse off than our ancestors? Where will it all end? How do we center ourselves in all the chaos and drama, and foster a sense of inner peace and faith amidst all the upheaval?
The one aspect of this world I completely trust is Mother Nature. The Earth Mother, Terra, Tellus. Our beloved Gaia. Like any other maternal energy, she continually finds a way to cope. She readjusts, heals and rejuvenates.
I believe the planet will find a way to heal, restore and recover. Our Earth Mother has the innate power to sustain herself, despite the assault and abuse by her thankless human offspring. Unlike us feeble humans, Mother Nature does not resort to hysterics, fear and panic.
I believe there is a divine understanding that at different times particular events and changes will unfold, as the world evolves its own destiny.
The other aspect of life that I have complete faith in is my soul, my spirit, my higher self, that remains steadfast within me regardless of what goes on in the outside world.
The ‘Big Chill’ Moment Of A Soulmate Reunion
I started my first full-time job at age 17 working in the Conservation Corps. I grew up in a rural community and the local Conservation Corps was engaged in environmental stewardship, such as clearing debris and fallen trees from streams to prevent floods and fire hazards. As a teenager, I had many small jobs babysitting, gardening, and so on, but this was my first serious employment after graduating high school.
On my first day of work, I sat on a fence waiting for the bus that would drive us into the woods, when another bus full of ‘city kids’ arrived. The first guy that emerged from the city bus looked directly into my eyes and I remember having a million thoughts all at once!
His eyes were green, like mine. I believe that was a memory trigger. A memory trigger is a soul recognition clue that we program into the psyche before we come into this life. Its purpose is to remind us subconsciously of a soul contract. Soul contracts are agreements between ourselves and others to work out karma in this lifetime.
Mr. Memory Trigger Eyes looked down almost immediately once he saw me, bashfully, with a blushing face. Looking into his eyes felt like a lightning bolt hit my body. I felt a ‘big chill’ at the same time. The hair on my arms stood up. It was electric and exciting! There was an instant familiarity between us.
Although I had never met him before, I somehow felt I knew him. His face seemed familiar, which I ascribe to the built-in memory triggers. The ‘big chill’ is spirit stirring your psychic memory. I instantly knew I recognize his energy signature from past lives and the spirit realm. I even heard my higher self whisper, “He’s the one.” And he did turn out to be my first love in this lifetime.
During the three months we worked together, he flirted shyly with me, stared at me from afar. I knew we would eventually be in a relationship. There was never any doubt in my mind. I just knew it. But what was taking him so long?
Everyone Is An Artist
Art is a powerful form of self-expression. It allows us to communicate complex emotions and spiritual concepts through various mediums such as the visual and fine arts, music, dance, acting, creative writing, and so on.
When we are being creative we connect with the subconscious part of ourselves. This can be a powerfully healing experience to help us process and integrate our thoughts, feelings, beliefs and life experiences on a deep level.
When we are children, we don’t have any preconceived ideas about art. If you observe young children, you’ll see this very clearly. They don’t worry about how ‘good’ an artist they are. Most kids just see art as a form of play. They love to draw, or paint, or color, and are typically pretty thrilled with their creations.
So, what happens along the way that we become so self-conscious about our artistic endeavors? It seems to me that at some point most people have had ‘the artist’ within subtly discouraged or silenced. Whatever the case may be,suffice it to say that life takes over at some point and being creative artistically takes a back seat.
“I was never very good at it anyway,” or “I just did it for fun,” are common remarks I’ve heard from people. But what’s wrong with not being very good at something? Especially if it’s fun? Moreover, the benefits of spending time being creative are vast! Art Therapy is growing in popularity and more studies are being done around this modality.
One particular study focused on people with chronic illness or cancer. The researchers looked at the impact visual art activities such as painting, drawing, and pottery had on patients and found that art helped to distract them from thoughts of illness.
Art therapy improved their well-being by decreasing negative emotions and improving positive ones. Depression levels were also reduced, and medical outcomes improved overall. There were also reductions in stress, anxiety, and distress. Further there were improvements in the patients’s spontaneity, expression of their grief, positive identity and social interactions.
The Soul Future Of Past Relationships
To outward appearances, endings are a structural matter – now there is a relationship, now there is no relationship. From the soul point of view, ending is a different experience of the relationship.
Ending is not literal at all, but rather a radical shift in imagination. For example, a woman’s father passes on. In her soul the relationship may now intensify and may become the dominant myth shaping her other relationships, her career, and every other aspect of her life.
Memories of her father may now become more vivid than ever, and new feelings may surface. He may be more influential in her life now than when he was alive.
Another example might be a man who divorces his wife, thinking that now his thoughts will turn toward a new life. With the struggle of decision and separation now passed, feelings formerly nudged out of awareness now come to the forefront.
Completely unexpectedly, he now has dreams of her seducing him, suggesting that in some way ‘she’ now has renewed desired for him. Years later, he says what many people say: “I didn’t have to go through that divorce. If only I had known then what I know now…”
Apparently there is something in every relationship that is eternal, that goes on forever, and that wants to be exempted from the life-decision to cut ties. If you are experiencing this, it is not your imagination. You are simply being quite human.
Obviously, our relationships are not as simple or as limited in scope as we sometimes like to think them to be. There are only so many people we come to know in a lifetime, and an even smaller number with whom we live intimately. Continue reading
Soulmates Are A Divine Grace
Soulmate connections are a very real and powerful phenomenon, but many people find it difficult to determine whether someone truly is a soulmate, or not.
In my experience a soulmate is someone to whom we feel deeply connected, as though the communicating and communing that take place between you were not the product of intentional efforts, but rather a divine grace. This kind of relationship is so important to the soul that many have said there is nothing more precious in life.
We may find a soulmate in many different forms of relationships and in all areas of our lives, including friendship, marriage, work, family and recreation. We even find it with a delightful ‘critter’ – the pets we feel that special connection with.
Many times, when a soulmate first comes into our life, we have that feeling of familiarity as if we have known them before. Often, indeed, we have known them in a past life or many previous lives.
The famous American psychic Edgar Cayce stated that a soulmate is an individual who we have an ongoing connection with. The soul picks up on this longstanding connection with that person again and again in various times and places and over many lifetimes.
Most importantly, Cayce further stated that we tend to be attracted to another person at a soul level, because by being with that individual, we are somehow provided with “an impetus to become whole ourselves”. This is also known as ‘soul recognition’. We are therefore not drawn to our soulmate simply because that person is our unique complement.
My Near-Death Experience
About 12 years ago, right before Christmas, I had a lot going on in my life. I was taking care of my two kids and my brother. My cousin had a three-month-old baby, whose mother was in the hospital with complications due to diabetes. He brought me his new baby and asked if they could stay with us, and if I could care for his son while he worked. He was working the night shift, from around 7pm till 4am. Of course, I said I would help in any way I could.
Between my kids’ and my brother’s schedules, and now this new baby who was colicy, I was exhausted at the end of the second week. Somehow, I also got food poisoning. Never having had food poisoning before, I didn’t know the symptoms and thought I had a touch of stomach flu. Being so tired, I hadn’t realized how sick I actually was. After about 18 hours of fluid loss, I become so dehydrated that I had a seizure. My eyes rolled into the back of my head and I fell down. Apparently, I was clinically dead for around 1½ minutes.
I did not experience all of the typical near-death phenomena. There was not any floating over my body; there was no white light, no tunnel. I was simply here and then I was there. The first thing I remember is walking along a sort of grassy path. I don’t remember turning around to look behind me, but, I just knew that there was a darkness from which I came, back there.
There were two people there to greet me. A woman and a man, the woman spoke to me first, and the man was a little ways behind her. Today, I could not tell you who these people were. But, when I was there, I was so glad to see them. It was like when I had sent my kids to summer camp, and they were gone for all those summer months, and I missed them terribly. It was the same feeling I got when seeing my children for the first time returning home. I had a deep love and bond with these two people.
The next thing I remember is that I was taken to the top of a mountain. There was no journey to get there, I was just there. The only way to describe the mountain is that it was like standing on top of Pikes Peak and looking out. I was so high up that the only thing I could see was blue sky.