Spirit Life Journeys

Know Your Truth, Find Your Path

Discernment vs. Judgement

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Greetings, spiritual seekers!

Part of what Spirit Life Journeys is all about, is finding truth. Your Truth. With a capital T – the meaning, wholeness, and essence of your life. That which makes your life worthwhile.

Part of knowing that, is being able to tell a lie from the truth.

Sounds simple, right? We all get that gut feeling that lets us know that what is going on, is not our path. Is not our Truth. Is not for us. Is not in alignment with our intentions.

This can come in the form of outright falsehoods from outside of you, or perhaps some falsehoods you may have been holding within yourself. Lies that say you’re not enough, that you’re not worthy, that you’re not beautiful, that you’re not capable.

So why does it get so complicated to know and follow our truth?

Judgement – being judgemental, thinking judgemental thoughts, acting in judgemental ways.

We often use judgement instead of discernment, so I wanted to spend some time talking about the difference.

Many of us navigate through life by reaction – by judging what is good and bad, through emotional reactions – and then making choices based on whatever we have judged.

Discernment, on the other hand, is simply knowledge of truth. It does not separate one person from another; it does not make one thing wrong and another thing right. It does not decide a person or situation is bad. It simply sees the Truth of what is.

That Truth is so freeing – because within that Truth, is the path forward.

Here’s another interesting twist – we sometimes judge ourselves for knowing our Truth. Which makes things very complicated – and here’s an example. Let’s say there has been an event in your workplace where someone has made a mistake. Do we point it out? Do we decide not to call attention to the mistake, so we don’t seem mean?

We might be tempted to judge ourselves for having the thought that someone made an error and that we should not speak up when mistakes are made – that we should not say what we know to be true, because that makes us mean.

On the contrary.

Mean is holding back someone’s opportunity to know the truth and act on it. Mean is calling someone bad names because they’re growing. But, it is NOT mean to point out the truth so that it can be righted.

So – the next time you are tempted to dim your light – reconsider. Act on your truth with love, of course – be conscientious, compassionate, and charitable. But to judge yourself for knowing your answers, helps nobody. Diming your light, giving up your path to serve a lie, does nothing but dim the whole of the world.

Be your light. Shine. We need your light!

All love,
Kelly

An Open Heart: Dealing With Life

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As I write today, I have recently gone through a rather large growth period. (A growth period is a time in your life where you are taking a big step forward spiritually and your body feels out of whack a little bit, getting used to the new space.)

Growth periods are really great things, in the end, but can leave you feeling a little off-kilter.

I wanted to bring this particular growth period up because it is deeply related to my core life purpose, and it fills my heart with gladness to be able to share what I learned.

When I say ‘life purpose’ – this is not a task on a checklist of things to do that was made prior to incarnation. Oh no – it’s not that easy. Life purpose is literally your purpose for your life – something that you work on for a lifetime. Something you decided to practice during incarnating. It’s something that is deep and rich and makes you grander for its exploration. So if you think it’s something you can check off a list and move on to something less demanding – no such luck!

Your life purpose will involve all of who you are and will turn you upside down and inside out in its fulfilling – something that takes all your heart and mind and soul.

So – taking that concept of a life purpose – one of the things I came to do this lifetime was to learn how to be around people. To learn about other people, to enjoy them, to make friendships, to relate to other people. To be a people person.

By nature I’m extremely private, sensitive and introverted. If you’re reading this blog, I’m pretty sure you’re a sensitive soul also.

I’m so sensitive that I have spent many lifetimes cutting myself off from others, retreating into monasteries, convents, retreats, nature, pilgramiges, ANYTHING that would give me nice tidy rules to follow and not make me have to face other people too much.

I got so far off my life goals in my last incarnation that it cost me my body. Rather than become involved in the sometimes messy interactions and the imperfections of myself, I closed off. I isolated myself.

And I started over this lifetime at the same point – as an introverted sensitive soul, trying to learn how to be open enough to shine my light.

This recent growth period has been a major turning point in my ability to do that. I started to look at myself and realize there were qualities I held that were not what I wanted. I didn’t want to sit on the sidelines anymore and feel I was watching life pass by. I wanted to be involved. I wanted a softer presence. I wanted to learn how to be as nice externally as I felt inwardly.

A trusted guide and friend pointed me back to The Four Agreements, and in doing so, was reminded of the biggest and first of these:

Be Impeccable With Your Word.

My own interpretation of this is – stick with the facts, don’t beat yourself up, and keep an open heart. If we stick with the facts, we’re not making judgements. If we let ourselves of the hook, we surprisingly start to see the humanity and others. If we stay still and soft rather than close up, we’re able to allow others into our lives rather than kick them out.

When these things come together, miracles happen. Rather than resisting help, we can allow it. Things we always wished could happen, start to – because we’re not getting in our own way anymore.

It’s really easy to throw out judgements, criticisms, and general harshness, when we’re not feeling good inside. It’s kind of a relief valve. It temporarily makes us feel a little better. But only for a little while – because when that pressure gets relieved, we realize that harshness isn’t really who we are.

That’s actually good news. It’s not who we are.

So how do we get off this roller coaster of buildup, relief, guilt – and repeat?

Staying open to our heart. Staying open to life. Accepting ourselves no matter what. Refusing to judge ourselves.

In a word – LOVE.

That doesn’t mean we don’t honor the truth. On the contrary. It just means we stick only with the truth. We don’t embellish the truth with stories that say we’re rotten to the core because of mistakes, or that we’re not capable enough, or that we’re stupid or horrible.

Because the truth is, we are not stupid and horrible.

Neither is anyone else.

So if we can see that – and let go the judgements and just be open to what is real – we can start to open up and not be so angry.

We can start to realize it doesn’t really hurt so much to interact with others. Because when we feel bad, it’s ultimately because something in another has triggered a judgement in ourselves. Nothing another says can really perturb our peace unless that kernel of unrest is already in us to be awakened.

So it is a blessing if we do get perturbed, because we can stay still with that pain, love ourselves, and emerge through the other side an even softer, more actualized being.

That is what I have come here for. To learn to love myself and thereby learn to see that light in others.

I imagine I’m not alone – and so I say to you, who are also seeking, struggling, hurting, but still getting back up and trying:

You are Light, you are Love, you are Hope, you are Peace. You are already All That Is.

You’re enough just as you are. You’re equal to any pain that appears in your life, and you don’t have to believe the lies that say you’re anything less than brilliant.

You are enough. You have the strength to be open, and it’s ok.

Peace be with you!

Chakra Basics

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Ever wondered what a chakra is?

Part of tuning into our intuition and recognizing the spiritual part of ourselves means becoming aware of the etheric, subtle body that is just as real as the flesh and bones that make up our physical body.

Chakras are found throughout the body and are vortexes that direct energy throughout our body. Each chakra stores or directs or amplifies a different modality of energy.

So where are these chakras? There are seven major chakras in the body and they are located along the spinal column or the head. There are also minor or smaller chakras in the feet and hands and in other locations – but most of the time we focus on the major ones in meditation.

FIRST CHAKRA
The first chakra is located at the base of the spine. If you imagine a toilet paper tube lying on its side, with one end at the back of your body and the other end facing straight forward, that is the location of the first chakra. Energy moves from back to front through the chakra as it runs through.

The first chakra stores your information about survival and how to run a body. It helps you know how to gather abundance, what kind of food your body likes, how much sleep you need, how to find shelter – all those things that the body needs in order to survive. When there is a clog or slowing of the energy in this chakra, you may feel like you don’t have enough money, or you may feel sick or tired. Or it may feel like it’s hard to take care of yourself. When your first chakra is aligned, balanced, and flowing energy well, it’s easy to take care of yourself and get your physical needs met.

SECOND CHAKRA
If you hold your first and second fingers together and put them just below your belly button, your second chakra is located just below your lower finger. Your second chakra has your information about emotions and sexuality. If your second chakra is flowing energy well and is balanced, you feel free to have your emotions and are able to own your sexuality without shame or guilt. If your second chakra has foreign energy or is not flowing, you may feel conflicted emotions or uneasy about owning your sexual feelings.

THIRD CHAKRA
Your third chakra is located at your solar plexus. If you feel this area with your hand, you may even feel a sensitive center. That’s it! Your third chakra has your information about your own personal power. If it’s blocked or out of balance, you might feel like things just aren’t going well for you or aren’t coming together – or that things just take a lot of effort. Perhaps you might even feel like you’re not good enough. If your third chakra is balanced and flowing, life comes together fairly effortlessly, you have enough energy for everything, and you feel validated and powerful.

FOURTH CHAKRA
Your fourth chakra is your heart center and is located in the center of your chest. It has information about loving yourself and other people. If your fourth chakra is balanced and flowing, you’re able to appreciate yourself and others and to share affinity for life. If the fourth chakra is blocked or not flowing, you may feel as though you’re not loveable or you may have a hard time relating to others.

FIFTH CHAKRA
Your fifth chakra is the throat chakra and has information about communicating as well as creativity. There are a lot of tremendous spiritual abilities in this area, including telepathy. When your fifth chakra is balanced and clear, it’s easy to say what you think and feel and it’s easy to create things in your life – new jobs, new projects, new house – whatever! If your fifth chakra is blocked or unbalanced, you may feel like you’re not supposed to say what you really think and you might notice your creations don’t turn out the way you really want them to.

SIXTH CHAKRA
Your sixth chakra is your third eye chakra and is located in the middle of the forehead. This center is all about vision – clairvoyance comes from this place. Clairvoyance really means seeing clearly – seeing the non-physical as well as the physical – and when this chakra is clear and flowing, you’re able to see the truth. When it’s blocked, you might have difficulty acknowledging what you see, or you might not see anything at all.

SEVENTH CHAKRA
Your seventh chakra is your crown chakra and is located at the top of your head. It is the seat of your knowingness and intuition. Whenever you just know something is going to happen, that is your inner knowingness from your 7th chakra and it is a tremendous spiritual ability. When your seventh chakra is clear and balanced, you don’t have any trouble knowing your own answers. Conversely, if that chakra is blocked, you may feel like you don’t know the truth about your life.

Each of these chakras has tremendous gifts to offer you and it pays to spend some time getting to know yourself and how your energy is flowing. Ultimately the best situation is when all the chakras are aligned and in harmony – so that when we see something with our vision, our emotions resonate as well, we feel powerful, we are open to ourselves and others, we communicate well and we know we are on track.

An amazing place to be!

Willingness: Opening To Life

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Greetings and blessings!

As we are moving on our spiritual path and seeking information, we learn a lot of cool things – how to access our unique psychic talents, how to know our truth, how to create our reality based upon our deepest knowing.

There are amazing techniques to help with this. Techniques that have been used for thousands of years to open the inner doorways to our spiritual nature.

Despite all of that, it’s sometimes the case that we feel blocked, blank or just plain in the dark. Struggling with who we are and where we are going. I’ve been there myself so many times.

I’ve been down the path where I couldn’t see the next step before me and where I was so nervous to make a ‘mistake’ that I took no move at all. I became stuck and immobile.

Maybe you’ve been there too.

If you have, I want to share something with you that has completely transformed my life and my relationship to Source.

It’s called willingness, and it’s being open to the flow of all that is – the very flow of life itself.

Another way to say this is that you stop resisting what is. Does that mean that you give up your knowingness and goals? Absolutely not. It simply means you decide not to fight what already exists. It means you do not use whatever form the present moment takes as an excuse to be unhappy.

Rather, it means that you soften, deepen, and open into life. You let go, you relax, and you allow what is.

From there, from that peaceful, relaxed state, you then ask – what is it that you would like to give yourself with respect to the moment?

You then contemplate it. You imagine it. You engage it.

And then you let your wish come back to you. And in the meantime, you remain open. You open yourself to what presents for you. You allow the flow of creativity to run through your life – including the give and receive of life.

Rather than holding yourself back, you allow yourself to shine. And in doing so, you create miracles – all because you decided to be who you really are.

From there, anything is possible.

The Grace of Spirit

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Greetings, Spiritual Seeker!

More often than not, this blog contains some sort of educational topic.  But this week I am in such a state of happiness and miracle space that I simply wanted to ponder that state for a while, and share my ponderings.

It is really magnificent when we start to take steps forward on our path based upon our inner knowing and inner light.  Definitely not easy, but it is simple – and such a rewarding way to go.

There’s something to be said for taking that leap of faith into the unknown and going our own way.  Something so vital, enlivening, invigorating.  Something freeing, something immeasurably creative and wonderful.

I have been taking some of those steps over the past several months and I’m so very grateful for the path that I’m on.  And because of that incredible sense of gratitude I feel towards life itself, I so very much want to spread that joy and grace to everyone that I know.

I bet if you’re reading this, you’ve known the pain of not knowing who you really are, of feeling stuck, of feeling that there is really nothing you can do about your life.

I’ve known it too.

I’ve known the pain of feeling trapped, feeling lost, feeling unworthy.  And I’m here to say that – there is a different path.

A lighter path.

A friendlier path.

A more whole path.

And the most incredible, wonderful, amazing part of this that the simple truth is that YOU ARE THAT PATH.

You – your spirit – your life – is the key to getting back on that path of wholeness and life.

Opening up to the totality of who you are as a magnificent being is the whole key to transforming that place of karma, pain and stuckness into a path of wisdom, light and freedom.  Passion even.

It would be my complete honor to assist you on the way to feeling that sense of worth and passion within yourself.    I would very much like to hear what struggles you are having on your path and what topics you need help with.  I invite you to email me and let me know what you most need to know on your path.

It is my only hope that everyone can find that core within themselves – that source – the source of all that is.

May it be.

Namaste,

Kelly