Month: August 2020

We witness when we sit down, shut up, and pay attention. I haven’t written a blog post in a few weeks because I knew I needed some time for me to do exactly that. Creating space to quiet our own voice in order to pay closer attention to what Is, is one of the greatest gifts we can give ourselves.

What in the world is going on?

The only thing certain is that none of us have the answers. We’re all just trying our best with what we have to work with. If you encounter anyone who DOES claim to have all of the answers—run! When your religion claims to have all the answers? Question it. When your political party claims to have all the answers? Question it. When someone you know is driving you crazy because they insist they have all the answers? Question it!

The ego loves clinging to answers. It loves to be “right”. It loves telling everyone how right it is and getting attention for it.

There’s been a huge influx of toxicity into the spiritual community lately as narcissists and the alt-right use it to drive ego and fuel greed. Question those who use a platform on social media to convince you they should be your guru or wellness expert. Question those who charge you money in exchange for their answers.

Wisdom is free. Your best source of it is within you. You just have to clear away the nonsense piled on top.

And for the record, authentic truth exists in perfect harmony with science. Science is our understanding of nature, and nature is the physical manifestation of the divine. Question those who tell you to fear science and believe in their snake oil answers instead.

Everything you’re certain of is holding you back

The goal in life is not to collect answers and be “right” when we die. In fact, the more answers you hold onto, the more they will hold you back.

The way all of us go through our days is by telling ourselves stories about what we think is going on. When we attach to these stories as “truth”, they act like little boulders tethered behind us. The more ideas we attach to, the more boulders we’re dragging in our wake. If you collect enough of them, you’ll be stuck firmly in place with no way to advance forward until you let something go. The way to peace, happiness, and growth is by releasing our attachments—untie the tether and leave it behind. The goal is NOT to find better attachments. This isn’t a matter of whose boulders are the nicest. The aim is to let everything go.

Life is about learning. We incarnate in order to grow. It’s like a big cosmic school we attend for eighty years or so before going home. Just like in our traditional understanding of school, we get the most out of the lessons when we sit still, be quiet, and pay attention! Stop all distractions. Open yourself to what’s actively going on inside and outside of you. That’s where you’ll find the way forward. Our lives are orchestrated from beyond to place directly in our path everything we need to learn and face. Whatever you need will find you, not the other way around.

Being open and paying attention to the present moment is the ultimate goal. It allows spirit to move through you. It gives you clearer access to guidance from those on the other side of the veil who DO know the best way forward.

We can’t hear the guidance if we don’t hush up and listen for it.

Your inner witness

We are not our bodies. We are not our identities. We are not our minds and thoughts. We are a singular point of divine awareness.

Wherever you are, whatever is going on, there is always a deep part of you in the core of your physical self that is JUST awareness. It’s the Watcher. This essence is your connection to soul. The Watcher is always at peace. It is not at all effected by emotion or circumstances. It doesn’t get involved. It doesn’t judge. It doesn’t draw conclusions. It literally just pays attention and stays centered in peace.

When I’ve experienced road rage, I’ve reminded myself there’s a part of me that doesn’t care at all that some guy tried to run me off the road. This part of me is just silently taking it all it. It notices the anger and all of my scheming thoughts about what I should do about my anger. And it doesn’t care, it just observes.

When I lost my brother to a sudden death, I got better in touch with my Watcher. It was suddenly much easier to just exist and go through things as they happened and not expend any energy about it, but just take things in with a kind of numbness and keep living.

Now, I spend more and more time during my days existing not as my human persona, but as this Watcher. Meditation is a great tool to practice this. There’s no trick to it—it’s just hanging out in the present moment. Notice input from your senses. Focus on breathing. Chant a mantra. Do whatever gets you there.

Things will become profoundly simplified for you if you can shift to being the Watcher. That is the path to prolonged, true, inner peace.

Expectation and certainty will eventually cause suffering. If you can go through life staying in the present moment, taking things as they come without any preconceived ideas about how it’s going to go or what it all means, getting as big a kick out of the craziness of it all as you can while you can, that is the way to have a joyous experience.

The chaotic state of our world

There’s a lot of messed up stuff going on right now. Things are breaking and being exposed for corruption on a huge scale, everywhere we look. This breaking-down is what we need in order to shift to a better existence for all of us, but it’s massively stressful. It’s causing trauma in everyone going through it. But it’s not our job to make sense of it all. It’s not our job to fix anything that big. All we are asked to do is deal with what is directly in front of us right in this moment. Not what’s going to happen in five minutes, or fifty, or in ten years. Just now.

What can you do now? What does your gut tell you is the best way to exist as a loving human right now? Is there a simple way to better serve others? To show kindness or compassion? To show appreciation? To give yourself a break? A lot of times, the person we most need to be kinder to is ourself.

Be here. What can you do here? What does your heart tell you to do here?

Stop looking out at the whole messy world through the lens of screens. Start with your body and your health. How can you show kindness there? Then look at where you are, your space, and the people you share it with. How can you make things better for everyone there right now? What ideas are getting in the way that you can let go?

We all need to work on getting out of our own way. The person responsible for tripping you up in life is you, guaranteed. So, get out of your way. Stop complicating stuff. Deal with what’s urgent. Know your limits. Be kind to everyone, but most of all YOU.

My experience

It’s kind of funny to admit, but I’ve gotten really tired of stories. I’m tired of trying to tell myself what I think is happening, but I’m also tired of listening to others tell fear-driven stories about what they think is going on. As a writer, this has been pretty complicated to deal with. I’ve discovered a reduced tolerance for fictional drama (reading or watching), or current event drama, or social media drama. It could be the way my own trauma is manifesting, but I’m sure everyone reading this can relate to the feeling that just existing on the planet right now is fairly exhausting. Many things suck our energy, so I just don’t want to give my energy away to things that don’t put it to good, necessary use. Instead, I go for long walks. I do puzzles. I make things. I meditate. I journal. I cook.

I’ve successfully let go of a ton of stuff, and it’s left me feeling incredibly free. Now, when I see the temptation to attach to an idea or something that’ll suck my energy, I notice it. The noticing tends to kill the temptation. Because I know it’ll drain my feeling of lightness and freedom. It’ll weigh me down. And I’ve been there, done that. Not interested in going back.

Remaining in a state of open awareness gets us close to the void of the un-manifest. It’s a place of pure potentiality where anything can happen. It’s the gateway to the divine. I find so much ecstatic joy in lingering in this place. Being there is the quickest, most painless route through all the nonsense. I place no expectation on myself. Every moment is a gift and a wonder. There’s a breathtakingly casual, persistent awe.

When intuition leads me to make a choice, I choose the higher path. I direct myself toward the path full of the highest good and most loving version of reality for everyone. I live in hope and faith, and it’s what I honestly wish for everyone else to experience too.

I’ve been meditating at least an hour and a half daily, peppering in briefer moments when I detach and go within for a few minutes at a time to touch base and go back to my center. I encourage everyone to do the same. Anything we do can be a meditation—washing the dishes and feeling bubbles on the skin, smelling the air, feeling the ground under our feet or the clothes on our skin, smiling at someone, saying hello, eating a meal. Simplify!

I don’t have answers for anyone. All I have is input on what’s worked for me in getting to a healthier place. I send it out into the ether like breadcrumbs on a trail to lead those who wish to follow where I have gone, knowing we are all coming from and going to different places.

My increased time being the Witness or Watcher has led me to begin channeling. I’ve had intentional conversations with my spirit guide where I get to ask whatever is on my mind, and have found so much soothing comfort in the clear, loving, surprising responses. It’s been a profoundly moving experience. Please know we are truly never alone and always have our guides with us whenever we need them. They’re waiting for us to let them guide us in whatever ways we need them to, and need only be asked. For anyone willing to do the work involved in opening up to this level, I can’t recommend it enough. It’s magical and transformative!

COVID-19 has required all of us to simplify in many kinds of ways, but my wish for all of you is that simplifying is your gateway to rebirth as a freer, happier soul. Cut some weight loose, search for the inner stillness already inside you, and discover the wonders waiting there.

Love and blessings, friends.