Anyone who's listened to an interview with Nilda Chiaraviglio has heard of the idea that the universe is always communicating with us. Whether it's a message from a movie, something we overhear in a conversation next to us, the title of a book that stands out among all of the novels on a shelf...we are always in this funky energetic exchange with the things around us. Indeed, quantum physics tells us that everything is moving, all the time. The particles of objects that are seemingly concrete and solid are, in fact, vibrating at such a low frequency that to us it's imperceptible.
There are so many ways we can pick up on these messages, consciously or unconsciously. Some people interpret their dreams. Others pray. And others ask for guidance from the trees and nature. And then...we take a deep breath and wait.
I think that listening requires a certain level of acuity. Some people would call it intuition, others might call it openness, or paying attention. And what's cool is that these magical, impossible things that happen in our lives might never have an explanation or even have been possible within our imagination.
So much of what I read and listen to related to personal growth and development and spirituality talks about this idea of your imagination and your mindset - that you're not limited by your capabilities, but instead by what you believe is possible for yourself. That you're not limited by your physical environment, but by your internal one. But what if something happened that was beyond what you even believed was possible? What if, in fact, what was on its way to you would blow your mind because of its level of insanity/coolness/impossibility?
This, my friends, is what I call supernatural.
Lately, I've been spending my time outside of work thinking about this - our interconnectedness as a human species, our ability to tap into a higher consciousness, to up-level our human experience...there's an interesting set of themes that I'm seeing in all of it:
1. Invest in the process and let go of the results
2. Trust that everything will work out
3. Live in the present
4. Lean into the energy of neutrality and being open to whatever might come your way
5. And so much more....
It would be impossible for me to summarize all of what I listen to and read, but these are the themes that are top of mind for me right now. Something I see in all of it is the idea of letting go of control.
What fascinates me is that by spending my time in this space of mysticism, wooness, or whatever you want to call it, I find myself wanting to 'zoom out' of my everyday experiences, and of the seemingly trivial issues or concerns.
We're always so concerned about these tiny things - paying rent, did I communicate properly with that person, how did I handle that situation, etc. - and we fill our minds so often with messages of doom and gloom (the news) and static (newsletters, email, etc.) that pull our energy in a thousand directions in a day.
I feel like in general, the human species is limited in its ability to do just that - to zoom out, see the bigger picture, apply this lens of long time horizons to our present situation. Instead, we worry about if our SPF is high enough to protect us from getting cancer, if our son is marrying the right woman, how many more payments we have to make on our loan before it's done and we can move on to paying off our next debt.
But what would happen if we brought this deeper wisdom into our decision-making processes? Our everyday lives? What would it look like if we treated our bodies as if we were going to live for 200 years instead of 80?
What if we prioritized joy as the antidote to aging instead of a special night cream? What if we looked to nature as the source of inspiration instead of a screen?
One of my favorite quotes is that 'the quality of our lives is dependent on the depth of our breath'. Along those lines, I can't help but think that the antidote to stress is space. It's down time. Rest. Spontaneity.
What would our days look like if we had no schedule? If we judged ourselves on the ways that we showed up in other people's lives instead of what we checked off on our to-do list?
We can't avoid the fact that as much as we live in a spiritual world, we are operating on a human plane. Interactions with others is an inevitable part of that experience. And if we're looking to up-level our interactions with other people, we necessarily need to change our inner environment. That's undeniable.
We also operate on a 24-hour schedule, although even that is arguable I highly encourage you to take a look at Ed Myle's stuff if you haven't already. It's brilliant.).
Hurting each other is part of the process. Pain is something we of course will experience, no matter how much we might try to meditate our way to happiness. This is another theme that I hear a lot - that the key to happiness is not to avoid pain at all costs, or to associate pain with failure, but to cherish pain as part of what makes joy so great. If we were happy all the time, it wouldn't be as wonderful. The challenges and struggles surrounding happiness are what makes it so powerful.
What I'm getting at here is the importance of creating space for ourselves, no matter what that looks like. And by space, I mean time. I think there's some statistic that says that it takes us 80,000 hours, roughly, to become a master at a certain subject. Or maybe that it's the number of hours we will have worked in our adult lives. There's also a statistic out there that says for the people who were born after the year 2000, we will have spent 45 years of our lives on a screen. Again. Time.
The way we spend our time is reflective of our priorities and our values. When we fill our every waking moment, it's for a reason. When we keep our schedule open, it's for a reason. When we make excuses not to spend time with people, it's for a reason. And when we zoom out, step back, and look at the way our days pass, it's so important to be asking ourselves - would I be proud of myself a year from now in how I'm spending my time? Five years from now? Seventy? Am I making time for the things that really matter? Am I allowing myself enough time to process, think, listen to my body? Listen to the messages that the universe is sending me? Am I connected to a higher consciousness? To energetic forces that are beyond me in this physical plane?
I attended a church service the other day, not because I'm religious, but more just out of curiosity, to practice my Spanish, and also to meet people. And I find that for the most part I can't follow anything that's going on because religious texts are like a foreign language to me. I didn't grow up with any of that, so it can be challenging. But I find that I enjoy going because it's really just time for me to reflect. To process in ways that I never give myself in other times of the week or the month, really.
I often get lost in my own train of thought and am completely disconnected from what's happening in the service, choosing to observe other people's behavior. What stood out to me recently was the way that the woman at the front of the room spoke so passionately. You could tell that she was standing in her power. She was completely lit up by what she was doing and speaking about.
You know what I'm talking about. I'm sure you've seen it before. When people are so consumed with what they're doing or saying that it almost seems like they're channeling from some other entity. There's a light in their eyes that's undeniable. And their passion is contagious.
As I was sitting there, I kept hearing this inner voice say "You know what you need to do, Emily. Stop holding back. This is what you're capable of." And it was in the sense that I, too, can operate from a place of pure joy in my work to the point that it just feels like play. And that the people around me similarly light up when they witness me in action.
Not everyone has the courage to be seen. The woman standing at the front of that church demonstrated tremendous courage, knowing that there would be others who would judge her, no matter what she said.
But you know what? She did it anyway. And at some point prior, my guess is that she gave herself the SPACE - and time - to allow those messages that she shared to come through.
My heart is literally pounding as I write this because I think that I've got a lot of messages I want to share. I'm learning so much all the time, but I haven't given myself the space to process what it means in the context of my personal life or my professional endeavors...and I think that's changing!
Maybe it's my Saturn return, maybe it's hearing enough people say "you're running yourself into the ground. Just stop. And slow down. You can't keep this up", maybe it's realizing what I need to shift my external environment...all I know is that I have to commit to giving myself space. And time. And allow a beautiful path to unfold in front of me.
To be honest, as I write this I don't even know what that means. But I'm going to follow my own advice and trust in the process, let go of the results, and above all, let go of control.
The question is - are YOU going to to the same?
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