What did I learn today? Lessons on the Journey to Unconditional Self Love

  Collectively, we are still attached to what was even though it will never be again. Today I want to share a blog post from Alicia Rodriguez, someone I met in Ecuador a few years back. Her wisdom is on point We are all experiencing "existential angst" if you will. Our lives and everything we have ever believed is called into question every day. The ground on which we have stood is now moving and even has disappeared. This goes beyond resilience, much deeper. There is a deep and subtle loneliness within that comes from how disconnected we have become; disconnected from others, from the way our lives were and from ourselves. Collectively, we are still attached to what was even though it will never be again.  People who are in power are taking such desperate measures to retain that power so they can continue to thrive personally at the expense of the earth, future generations, and their fellow human beings. Organizations still do not empower women and diverse populations to act

  What I’m discovering is that   spirituality is a practice of simplifying all forms of clutter and noise so that you can  be with what arises . Danielle La Porte I would say to people  "I am a simple but not a simpleton." I took it to mean that I liked simplicity as a way of life. I chose not to fuss over many things, not ask many questions on the "how". I accepted what was in front of me and life went on. Knowing all of the details was not an absolute must. What I have learnt is that simplicity goes beyond not asking questions and "fussing", simplicity is a way of life.  I asked myself how many items do I purchase based on ego, habit or unconscious neediness? How many items do I have in my home and surroundings that clutter up both my living space and my consciousness? How many times do I make life difficult by wanting the details before they are known or available? Living a simple life , I have learnt, is not easy. It takes a level of self trust and th

  the Creator/Universe/Source has already provided us with everything that we need…we just don’t always know how to use the things that have been given to us. Iyanla Vanzant  I was chatting with a friend of mine yesterday, talented, beautiful, kind person. My friend believes that life is hard, there are many events that have been happening and it seemed that my friend could not catch a break. I have learnt that life is neutral. Life reflects back us what we must pay attention to, whether it is to go faster, go slower, leave, stay, eat better, exercise, and the list goes on. Life has a way of loving us through it all however we don't always see it as love. Despite the choices that we make to neglect our health, our intuition, our nudges, life continues to provide us with evidence that something requires a shift. It really is up to us to decide when and how we want to make that shift. The qualities of discernment become essential, courage also becomes key as many times, the shift th

  Take the time to make peace between the you that longs to be on the other side of this river, on the far side of the thing you want to create, or the change you want to bring about; and the you that is terrified of what will happen to you along the way, or when you get there. Hiro Boga Confessions on the Journey - I have struggled with accepting "this is where you are at this moment" whether by divine design or conscious choice, accepting where I am came with feelings of doubt and fear. I always thought that there must be more, I have more to offer, more to give, more, more, more. Having and doing more is not necessarily a problem or a bad thing, the challenge is what is the motivation behind the wanting of more. I have learned that coming from a space of "not enoughness", from a space of lack, there will usually be feelings of nothing is ever enough. The feeling of lack transfers into ingratitude because nothing is ever enough. Creating a life, moving towards on

    true community is when you can be present with others and you do not have the sense of having had to check part of yourself at the door in order to gain access to membership to that community. I would say that that is a club, it’s not community. Rev Angel Kyodo Williams Are you a part of a community? Do you feel a part of something that allows for your growth, a safe space to make missteps and mistakes, a place where you can feel "at home"? Chances are if the answer is No, It suggests that some self reflection is required. Building a community starts with Self.  Asking yourself how safe and comfortable you feel in spaces, being completely honest in your response then taking action is the beginning of you creating a community. Having a community allows for growth and belonging, it must however start with you. I have been quite fortunate to have a community where I can unfurl - sometimes we have to build it ourselves because our families are not or no longer are places of

  I identify the blocks to  Flow  of money, chi and  love. When I hoard, eat poorly, don't move my body, don't  clear clutter, don't manage my money, hold  resentments, judgments and anger I am blocked.  Today I remove the blocks and allow  Flow .  When I allow  Flow  I experience Sufficiency.  Flow denotes to me that there is no blockage in how things are. Living in the flow is not allowing external activities and negative thoughts get in the way of how we live our lives. It is living without resistance and without denial. We block our flow when we resist what life is reflecting to us. We block our flow when we deny the truth. Flow is grace. Flow is sufficiency. Flow is abundance. Flow is a mindset. Have you seen when flowing water get's stagnant? It collects moss, dirt, debris, it starts to smell. This is how our lives become when we do not live in the flow. What are you doing as a ritual that allows flow? Do you meditate?  Do you laugh? Do you connect with what you

  The greatest killers of success are: overthinking/over analyzing /over complicating, procrastination, perfectionism and needing the approval of others. So the cure all is: take action NOW based on your gut (even if you aren't 100% clear). Do it messy. Do it afraid. Do it imperfectly. Take the next simple step. Start now, where you are with what you have. Don't live your life for the approval of others, Mastin Kipp One of the most important lessons I have learnt is to - Just Start! I wrestled with this bit of guidance for a very long time. I wanted it to "be done right" I did not want anyone to ask me questions and I did not have the answers. I wanted to be seen as organized , polished and together. What I  learnt was that many of these wants and feelings were fueled by fear rather than me having an open mind towards learning and growing. Massive Action became my new mantra- I would commit to myself to take baby steps, to move and be open to feedback and learning as

  Change is constant. It is in everything. Yet, we invest much of our energy on making choices based on the assumption of the permanency of the world around us. We will always have this and we will always be with these people and we will always have security and we will always have flexible bodies. You have your list of “always” and I have mine. We should meet somewhere and burn them in a ritual of release, as they are worthless . Carolyn Myss Knowing and accepting the impermanence of everything has really transformed how I show up as a person, in my life and in situations. I continue to feel the feelings associated with what occurs, this I will not deny, however, always keeping in mind to expect the unexpected. We were indeed built for unexpected situations. We were built to deal with change. What makes change difficult for us is   we have either built our identity around what we have accumulated, who we are married to, who are our friends, what type of brands we need to be associated

  What's currently thought of as safety is really hiding from any influence other than that which is predictable. Predictable feels safe because it's familiar, but the actual core of life denies familiarity. Life's an adventure into the unfamiliar... If you want to grow, your priority cannot be to feel safe .  Guru Singh Humans love certainly, control, comfort and predictability. I am human, so trust me I know, I also love those qualities as well. The paradox is that life is not filled with many guarantees. Life is filled with twists, turns, surprises, uncertainly and unpredictability. When we get attached to having a level of certainty and knowing - outside of ourselves, we want proof, to see it, to feel it, to touch it. It starts within. The external reflects the internal and so if we continue to look outside of ourselves for everything we will continue to remain in a state of looking, of wanting certainty and  guarantees. There is something called inner knowing and clari

  constantly in a cycle of growing, shedding, starting, ending, loving & evolving Many say life is hard, life is complicated, life is brutal. I have come to learn that life loves us and continues to give us impersonal signs, clues and guidance. Our responsibility is to pay attention to the guidance given, and have the courage to act when called upon to move, particularly when it seems to be hard, painful, uncomfortable or illogical. My mantra has been expect the unexpected and handle it- because we can. we were built equipped for handling life's lessons, challenges, opportunities and joy. Many times life leads us to new and different experiences, when we resist, life continues to lead us there. When we believe that we are not in control we either get scared or we get into denial. Every single experience is useful, whether we like or dislike, whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, whether it is one time or ten times - our role is to pay attention to the signs, cues and guidance.

  After so much suppression of your intuition, it will take time to trust yourself. Maryaam Hasna Trusting yourself is a process. Start small. You hear the voice in your head telling you rather than take this route to work today, take the other one. Starting small means you don't question it and its a seemingly harmless choice. You take the different route and you reach where you were going earlier and bump into someone you haven't seen for ages and wanted to reach out to reconnect. Be consistent. Anytime you hear the soft voice, the pull urging you. Listen to it. Plain and simple. You then become consistent in your approach. Take action Take action with an open mind. I can tell you, trusting yourself will never lead you astray. Once you trust yourself, you trust others. Peace

 A few years ago the month of  September  would bring about anxious moments. September represented the last quarter, winter was on the horizon and so was a brand new year. I used the beginning of the month to review the goals that I set for the year. If there was less ticks on the page to denote goals achieved, I would go into a mode of achievement by any means necessary. That  may have included neglecting self care, family time and anything else that got in the way of  achieving these goals. The achievement of goals was the barometer for my success. When my life changed, this level of achievement, goal setting and getting ticks on a page meant nothing to me. In fact I stopped setting goals for a few years after life changed. I reckoned that it just did not make me happy nor did it contribute to any joy (extreme much!) A few years ago, I started doing goals in a different way, I based  my goals on how I wanted to feel and focused on doing events to contribute to feelings the feelings I