In the sense that we “are” the observers of our general states of mind, body, and beyond, the action makers, takers, and choosers, and the recipients of all of the effects to our causes.
With this being said, we all have the potential to alchemize our life experiences, with the deepest of work being done seated at the altar within…
“What is an Altar?”
If we look up the word “altar” online, we are often met with a wide array of ambiguous explanations defining its sole purpose, amidst a sea of diverse interpretations derived from equally diverse and varying belief systems, all of which point to slightly different symbolic meanings and beliefs about what an “altar” is essentially “meant” to be used for.
Below, I give a breakdown of what I use an altar for and what an altar is to me, with this simply being my own subjective beliefs portrayed in a symbolic sense, not a literal one.
A Designated Sacred Space…
I personally and loosely consider an altar to be defined as: “A designated sacred space that is set with intentionality and is utilized for the betterment of oneself.“
In a literal sense, a physical altar can be defined as a “table” or “flat-topped block“, which is then followed by its purpose, which is figuratively and loosely defined and influenced by various subjective interpretations and projections based on varying beliefsystems.
But this is what an altar is to me, and this is therefore the context that I will be referring to moving forward!
“What is the ‘Altar Within’?”
The “Altar Within” is what I consider to be the space within each of us as individuals where we find our connection to “source“, and where we are able to clearly receive answers to any questions that we have, for ourselves and from ourselves, as well as where we channel any intuitive messages and guidance.
The altar within is symbolic of an altar that we would find outside of ourselves, except for the fact that the altar within is something that we carry with us, all of the time, hence the inclusion of and emphasis on the additional word, “within“.
It serves a similar purpose in relation to a physical altar, in the sense that it is a sacred space that can be focused on with intentionality and utilized for the betterment of oneself… Except an external altar is good for extending this space into our external world and designating a space that we can interact with and conduct our physical work inthat lies within this physical realm, bridging the gap between our internal and external.
“How Do We Tend to the Altar Within?”
To tend to our “altar within”, we must first understand what an “altar within” means to us personally.
To understand our altar within, we must first find our altar within, or to be more specific, create our altar within.
As I mentioned before, the meaning of what an “altar” is and is meant to be used for differs greatly depending on the belief systems of the individual, and therefore, the altar’s purpose is going to be subjective as well.
What the “altar within” means to us is going to be different for each of us, and this is where we look within for the answers.
This altar within is a space within each of us that we can tune into whenever we please, as long as we are aware that it exists and have clearly and intentionally designated it as a “center of personal development”.
This is kind of like the center of our whole experience, a place that we can re-turn to whenever we would like to receive answers, ask questions, ponder questions, center ourselves, reset, rest in clarity, and much more.
If you were in a noisy and disruptive classroom attempting to solve a math problem, sitting at the altar within would be like removing yourself from that room, and sitting in a quiet and isolated room that you have all to yourself, where you can then figure out the best route to take in solving the task at hand from a place of clarity and clear receptivity.
Tending to the altar within requires utilizing it consistently, patience, practice, invested attention, awareness, learning, vulnerability, repetition, revisitingthis space, and so much more, which will ultimately vary depending on the individual who is doing the tending, although with this, I would also mention that this tending does happen naturally when we continue to rest at and revisit our altar within, accessing it in order to promote ourevolution, and the betterment of ourselves as a whole!
If I were to go any deeper into this topic, this one post would end up being pages long, so here, I give you the gist of it and summarize the essence of this beautiful teaching to the best of my abilities, and from here, I pass the torch on to you, so that you may traverse inwards and discover what the “altar within” really means to you as a unique individual. ❤
“Why Should We Tend to the Altar Within?”
Sovereignty. Home Base. Neutrality.
Sovereignty.
When we tend to our altar within, we are accepting the truth that we do actually have most of the answers to our questions, and no longer have to constantly rely on seeking external guidance and insight. (All the time, sometimes it is okay to receive some insight from the perspective of another, and to ask questions to those who have had experiences that differ from our own! It is a balance!)
This is to trust ourselves, believe in ourselves,have confidence in ourselves, and to rest in our true sovereignty and personal power, accepting the fact that we are, more often times than not, capable of providing ourselves the guidance, answers, and love that we “seek”.
Home Base.
The altar within also has the potential to be a symbolic representation of a kind of “home base“ in our lives. A center-line to return to if we ever veer too far from our “path”, and a space that is always accessible to us if we would like to re-turn to a state of balance and clarity.
As I mentioned before, I consider the altar within to be a kind of center of our whole experience here, so for me personally, this always a space that I can return to if I would like a clear sense of direction, an energetic reset, or simply a reminder that everything is going to be okay, that I am safe, and that I can create whatever life I desire and dream of living from this beautiful and tender breeding ground for creation. In other words, my altar within is like my internal home.
Neutrality.
Similar to the altar within being a kind of center, I would also consider the altar within to be a space of in between, a bridge between both worlds, with it not just being “one or the other” but also both and neither simultaneously. For me, to rest in the altar within is also to respond from and rest in a place of neutrality.
Therefore, I also consider the altar within to be a unique and magnificent space of neutrality and non-dichotomy. This is why I believe that this is an amazing space to utilize and receive insight, clarity, and guidance from. The altar within is non-biased. It does not judge. It is not acting from a place of the past nor the future, it is simply providing unconditional love and guidance derived from the forever now, all that will ever be, all that ever was, and all that never was… Source.
As always, this is poured straight from my heart center, and here I share what has helped me in my own personal experiences, hence why I took the time and energy to create and produce this work of art and share it with all of you beautiful beings. May this be received in whatever walk of life you are treading at this moment, right now, which is always perfect, wherever you are… All my love and best wishes, hope this helps. ❤️
There have been numerous times where I aimed to prove myself, consistently expecting to receive validation externally, seeking confirmation and permission slips outside of myself, only to realize that the validation I was missing was my own.
Affirmations: “I am enough.” “I have my own validation.” “I allow myself to be free of any expectations.” “I give myself the permission.”
What We Seek, We May Find Within.
We all have the potential to be the source of our own validation, and we all have the ability to provide ourselves the confirmation that we are already enough.
This may take practice, and a consistent devotion to oneself through making an effort each day to feel this, live this, breathe this, and believe this at a core level.
With time, and intentional, conscious, action towards being the receiver of our own love and validation, we may then step into sovereignty, autonomy, and inevitably, our true power of self-sufficiency. ❤️
Embracing Autonomy, Living in Sovereignty.
We are all sovereign and autonomous beings; It just takes realizing this, and giving ourselves the permission to be this.
Embracing autonomy and living in sovereignty is not to exclude, nor avoid, any external relationships and interactions, but to show up for them coming from a place of genuine wholeness and appreciation rather than deprivation and necessity, which is of the deepest and most authentic love.
In other words: This is to be devoted to showing up as the best, most authentic, and whole version of ourselves, which will most definitely reflect in our relationships with others.
Even when we interact with others, we are still ourselves, and even when we are in relationships with others, we are still alone, and that is okay! It is only “not okay” if we make it, and see it as something, that is “not okay“.
At the end of the day, it is us who we are left with.
We are the ones who perceive, observe, and react to our own thoughts. We are the ones who feel and fully experience our emotions. We are the ones who set our own boundaries and choose what we shall allow into our lives, and we are the ones who take, make, create, and experience the results of our own actions.
Our power lies not in running from this truth, but resting in it. Allowing ourselves to be comfortable, and content, with this concept of conscious sovereignty and autonomy. To make peace with this, to realize that we are the source, and to witness all of the genuine beauty that blooms out of this simple yet utterly divine truth, and how it may shed light on all other aspects of our lives as well, like a synchronized domino effect portrayed in this dance of life itself.
Vowing to Love Ourselves, As We Are.
We are already enough, but will we allow ourselves to see this?
Will we allow ourselves to feel this, at a core level? To make the effort and take the strides of converting this into a core belief within ourselves? Will we allow ourselves to do this, feel this, believe this, be devoted to this, and to be free of any limitations that we would have made ourselves believe?
All it takes is our permission.
All it takes is our word.
All it takes is our intention, devotion, discipline, and a vow to love ourselves, as we are.
So when will we mark this conscious devotion to ourselves?
The only one we would be waiting on is us… So when will we say “go”?
United Being’s writing is not objective truth, but a fresh lens to consider perceiving the world through. There is no “right” or “wrong” way of interpreting this, and I encourage all of my readers to absorb the information that I provide here, and use it as a tool to be integrated into your own unique and individual perspective, as you continue to tread and honor your own path. All my love, and genuine best wishes.❤️
Taking the time to learn how to be gentle and patient with ourselves cultivates a space for nurturing, healing, and recovery in our daily lives, which also reflects in our relationships with others.
“Gentleness and kindness are like two peas in a pod, they work together unanimously.”
To be kind with ourselves, we must also learn how to be soft and gentle with ourselves, as well as patient, open-minded, and forgiving, which all coincides.
If we approach ourselves with the idea that there is something that has to be changed, that isn’t good enough, then we will remain there, exactly how we perceive ourselves to be in that moment, through that perspective, like a rigid structure, an image of ourselves locked in time, because that is all that we will be able to be, all that we will be able to see, and all that we would make ourselves believe that we are…
There is no changing the unchangeable, unless the unchangeable mustn’t be changed…
Seeing it as something that exists is holding onto the idea that it does. Loving and accepting it as it is is to realize that it was only love all along…
This is not to say that there are not things that we obviously want and intend to change, this is just to say that focusing on those things, through that lens, can harbor it as a limitation.
If there are things that we would like to see change, and to become transmuted into something new, then what does that change look like? What does that change feel like?Can we trust that this change is already coming, as long as we allow it to, and accept whatever is here now as it is?
“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”
– Lao Tzu
“However it is that we spend our days, we always end it with rest…”
To be soft is to be fluid, flexible, and free… Although being soft with others begins with being soft with ourselves, as they are one in the same, so long as we recognize this.
When we are rigid and hard, whether it be mentally, physically, or spiritually, it can only exist for so long before it returns back to softness. Softness is the source, but it needs tension in order to create. If there was no resistance, then there would be no-thing.
Although even then, the resistance is guided by a softness, guided by itself. Softness must inevitably resist itself in order to expand, in order to create, and even then, it is comfortable knowing that the resistance is only temporary, and will eventually return itself back to its natural order, back to its natural state. (The state of which it actually was all along…)
Even rigidity and hardness are actually no different than softness at its core… They are one in the same, only expressed differently. It is this multifaceted expression that allows softness to experience itself in duality. For a certain amount of time, softness can become hard and perceive and experience itself as another.
Although through time, many of us have unintentionally allowed ourselves to perceive this life experience as an “act” rather than an “experience“, forgetting our true origins. Thinking that we have to “be” and “live up to” these expectations and roles that don’t actually exist, only as we imagine them to be (which counts for a lot!).
This is an “act” when we deny ourselves, clinging onto the roles that we play out of familiarity and a fear of losing what is “known”, even if it’s losing our sense of identities that were embedded in the minds of others. This is an experience when we remember who we are, and recognize that even if there is no point, no purpose, and no “real other”, we have the ability to createanything that we choose.
We are all the Creators, and we can choose to believe that this bodily experience is an illusion, a façade, and a prison, or we can see that this human experience is a unique method of channeling our higher-selves, immersing oneself in a journey of deep exploration, and a blank canvass providing us with the ability to build and create beautiful art through time and space.
Infinity is not only “all that is“, but also “all that never was, all that still is not, and all that will never be”. Soaking in this concurrent concept of “all that is created was always here.” and “all that is here was never created and never was.”
Softness is a breeding ground for new things to emerge…
When we are soft, we can better foster nurturing, healing, and recovery. This where new things can grow. This cultivates a space within where anything is welcome to come through, without judgement and the need to control.
This is to realize then that anything that we would have been trying to control, would only be an effort to control ourselves, because we are the ones experiencing that emotion.
We can only be soft with another when we learn to be open and soft with ourselves, which is not always easy, but I believe is most definitely worth the challenge. Only then, when we have released all control, and all fear of losing who we thought we were, will we be able to be truly free, free from a version of ourselves that never actually existed…
United Being’s writing is not objective truth, but a fresh lens to consider perceiving the world through. There is no “right” or “wrong” way of interpreting this, and I encourage all of my readers to absorb the information that I provide here, and use it as a tool to be integrated into your own unique and individual perspective, as you continue to tread and honor your own path. All my love, and genuine best wishes to you all .❤️
Below, I expand upon three points, and elaborate on how we can use these consistently in taking real, grounded, action towards our goals.
Setting the foundation to create new cycles of thinking for our benefit…
What we’re doing here is changing the way that our minds process and react to certain situations; In other words, we are embedding a new pattern in our mindsby doing this.
This process is basically creating a shortcut in our brains, bypassing any unnecessary thinking processes, and cutting straight to the main points of our constructed pathway.
This is like taking a 10 page essay and shortening it to 5 pages, by removing all of the unnecessary “fluff”, and keeping the main points of the paper.
This is creating a clear map of our goals in a language that our brains understand. Each point that we get clear on in this process will relay a message to our brains, constructing a clear pathway that allows us to take clear, immediate, and grounded action towards our goals.
1. “I am here.”
When we catch ourselves veering from the path that we’ve set, feeling overwhelmed, caught up in thoughts about the past, the future, and all of the “maybes“, the first step is always to realize this:
“I am here.”
To take any grounded action, we must first get the “grounded” part down. So before anything, the first step is to realize where we are.
Anything else was out of our control anyways, because it existed outside of this moment, and this moment is where we are.
So before jumping into anything else, the foundation is always set in the now, because this is where the grounded action is taken, regardless of the goal/endpoint.
So to begin: “I am here.”
Not there, and not then, but here.
2. “Where am I going?”
This is where the goal is set. Not the steps that come along the way, and not the contemplation/rationalization of everything that may or may not come as a byproduct of that goal, but theultimate goal itself.
So once we realize where we are, we can then ask ourselves and get clear on:
“Where am I going?”
What is the point that I intend to get to? Not how am I going to get there, but where am I getting to? The ultimate end goal.
Getting clear on this allows the mind to construct a clear vision of our goal, and set it as the endpoint of where we are moving to. This gives our brain tunnel vision and laser focus when referencing our goal, because there is no doubt nor question regarding a destination.
“This is where I am I headed, and that is it. I do not know how I am getting there, but I do know that there is where I am getting to.“
3. “What am I going to do about it?”
So we have grounded ourselves in the present, realized where we are, and set a clear goal for where we are going, now what do we do? After getting clear on the first two steps, identifying the starting-point and the endpoint, we can then move on and ask ourselves:
“What am I going to do about it?”
Not “What am I going to do about it in the future?”but “What am I going to do about it now?”
This is where we do not give ourselves a choice.This is the step that ties it all together. This is the “action” part of the grounded action, and this is where we take the first step.
There is no questioning, only doing. This is identifying a step, no matter how small or how big, that will bring us towards that goal, that can be taken in this very moment, and doing it without question.
When this first step is taken, then so is the grounded action! Following this three step process can be done anywhere, anytime, and in any situation. This allows us to see what we can do now, here, in order to get there, and trusting that we will get there, while still being here, and doing what we can in the moment.
These are the steps that I apply for taking grounded action in my life, and this has been a powerful process! So all of my love and best wishes, I invested a great deal of time and energy into writing this post, and genuinely hope it helps! ❤
I also briefly expand upon this topic in the newest episode of my podcast, Interplay. Feel free to check it out and support below!
When we place our trust in the universe, we are letting go, releasing the doubts and stressors that we once claimed ownership of.
When we believe that things will work out in our favor, then they do, and so be it.
we can live in fear, or we can live in love, which one will we choose?
A Dance of “Give and Receive”
When we place our trust in the universe, this does not mean that we are relinquishing all of our free will. This life is a dance of give and receive, of putting out and letting in. This is not about giving all of our responsibility to the universe, and waiting for all of the answers to drop on our head as we wait in limbo. This is about setting clear and solid intentions, sending them out into the universe, and trusting that the universe is always conspiring in our favor, and will bring us exactly what we need at exactly the right time, based on the energy that we send out.
Now, whether we send this energy out unconsciously or with conscious awareness and intention is up to us…
Releasing the Outcome
If we trace whatever it is that we are working towards back to the original source, to the original intention, we will begin to realize that it is not the actual outcome of the thing, person, circumstance, or whatever it may be that is hard to “let go” of; It is the thought of it.
There is always something that triggers us to think about the outcome of what we are working towards. Whether it be checking our bank account, seeing something that reminds us of what we desire, contemplating how little time we have, whatever it may be.
When we keep our focus on the outcomes that are outside of our control, we are then transferring the “I want” energy to an “I lack” energy, pushing our goals further and further away from where we actually are, which is all there ever is.
When we place and maintain our attention on our present situation, shifting our perspective to see that where we actually are is completely fine, we can then set conscious intentions and take grounded actions that matter towards our goals, leaving the rest in the hands of the Universe, with radical and unwavering trust, whom will always work with us to achieve our goals in the most unique and mysterious of ways.
For some, there is a reactive and defensive belief that follows this approach, which consists of, “But if I stop thinking about it, even for a second, then I will lose sight of it, and it will never come.” This notion is false though, and it is once again the work of our little trickster friend, the EGO.
“No ego, once again, that is a fearful reaction…”
If the ego happens to have convinced us that the constant thinking and attachment is required in order for us to achieve our goals, this is a belief that is rooted in fear, a seed that was plantedfrom thoughts about the future and the past, which do not exist in the present.
The ego does not do this to attack us, it is doing it because it believes that it will protect us, not realizing that it is the very thing that is doing us harm. The mere awareness of this, and of the fearful state in and of itself, will dissolve the illusion that the present is something that we must run from in order to survive. That is what the ego does, it’s main goal is to survive, regardless of whether it limits us or not, because it is running off of its own programming, not common sense.
“In this new series, we explore the intricate, complex, and beautiful construct of our minds, and learn how we can take advantage of this understanding to use it to our fullest potential.”
Jo, CREATOR OF “INTERPLAY”
I’m excited to announce that Episode 1 of the New Podcast Series, Interplay, Made With the Intent to Expand the Minds of Each and Every Listener, is Out Now!
The reason that I crafted Interplay is to help anyone understand how we can use the power of our minds to their fullest potential, understanding how the unconscious, conscious, and subconscious makes up the basic structure of our mind, how these aspects of mind work with each other, and how we can use this interconnection and interplay to our advantage in processing information and programming the underlying functionalities of our mind.
Even though it is only episode 1, there was still a great deal of energy and heart that was incorporated into the makings of this content, and I plan to keep it this way through the entire series.This series is literally created one word at a time, with each word having a strategic placement in order to convey a grand meaning of why I created the show in the first place!
Available to Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Amazon Music!
The episode itself is a mere 10 minutes long, and still has the potential to shift one’s perspective and open many new doors of thought. Welcome to the kick off of the Interplay series, and I appreciate all of your support, as always!
In this first episode, we kick off the series by exploring the significance of the unconscious, as well as its interplay with the conscious and subconscious facets of mind.
Welcome to a series filled with stepping stones that will leave you with a fresh new set of eyes, and the opening of doors to a grand new perspective!
Feel free to follow me and subscribe here, on Spotify!
Thank you! All my love and best wishes to all of you beautiful minds. ❤
As we proceed on our healing journeys, we must not forget to acknowledge all of the healing that we’ve already done.
Embrace it, my love.
“It’s a part of the healing process…” I told myself.
With all the hurt I felt, my automatic response was to tell myself, “It will heal, it’s just a process.”
On this path, there was always something else to heal.
Which is not entirely false, although through this process, I found most of my energy being drawn towards the hurt rather than the healing itself.
“Healing” then became the mask that was worn by the “hurt“.
“This is healing.” became an excuse to focus on the hurt, which was painful, yet comforting in it’s familiarity.
“Yes this will heal, and look at what already has.“
While I was sitting in meditation one day, this dropped on my head.
“I am healing… I am healing… I am healing…”
“…wait… look at how much healing I have already done…”
An immediate shift in perspective.
Yes, I am healing, and I am also healed.
“I acknowledge this process, and I appreciate where I am now.“
Acknowledging this process, and allowing it to run it’s course, does not require constantly checking in on it.
It is the constant checking in on it that keeps it active. (TheQuantum Zeno effect.)
This happens naturally, on it’s own time.
Rather than focusing on what was being healed, and telling myself, “This is healing,” I began to focus on, and appreciate, how much healing I had already done, as this healing process was still going to occur whether I checked in on it or not.
There will always be room for reflection, this is not meant to deny the hurt.
Rather, this encourages one to experience it fully, to accept it, and to come to terms with it.
When we avoid it, we trap ourselves in it, for the act of trying to escape from something enhances the illusion that there is something to escape from.
When we deny it, we shove it into our unconscious, our shadow, and it shall subtly reveal itself in other areas of our lives.
When we allow ourselves to rest in the center of our hurt, simply being, without fear, without fighting, and place our attention on the peace that resides within us, as a result of what has already healed, the peacethat was once the same kind of hurt, we are choosing to see the glass as half full, which then attracts more positive experiences into our lives.
At the end of the day, we choose the lens through which we perceive all of our human experiences, we choose what we attract into our lives by choosing what we allow into our lives, and we decide the direction we go in on this journey, which is also the destination in and of itself. ❤
The middle is a pretty comfortable place to be. What is it to live a balanced life, a life of “in between”?
The Importance of Being Balanced
To be in balance is to be at ease. There is no “other“, there is no opposition. When we are in balance there is no chasing one side, nor running from the other. There is no push, there is no pull. There is simply peace with all that is, with all that is not, and with everything in between.
3 Tips for “Middle Living”
Here are some reminders that help myself to be centered and balanced in life, with the aims that it may help you as well.
1. BE WARY OF “EXTREMES”
Perceiving the world through a filter of extremes is a major limitation. The truth is that this reality is a spectrum. Our minds often like to fit things into categories. We tend to label things as “this” or “that” from a dichotomous point of view.
(It also helps to avoid talking in extremes, with the two main words to avoid being “always” and “never“.)
Overall, a mindset of extremes is detrimental. Life is so complicated and that’s honestly the beauty of it. There is no concrete “thing” and there is no concrete “other”.
Balance is embracing fluidity. To realize that there never wasone or the other, but both. One and the other. Which encompasses it all. One, which is also both simultaneously.
Therefore, by being in the “middle“,you encompass both things, one thing, and neither thing, all at the same time. What a concept, right?
2. use YOUR BODY as YOUR COMPASS
There are many metaphors that can be used with the physical body. One that I like to use in this case is thinking of the body as a compass, and a controller for our energy.
The body, mind, and spirit are all intertwined and interconnected. Therefore, they all influence each other. Thinking of it in this way, we can literally use our physical bodies to adjust our balance on an energetic level.
I will now share how I do this. I use these techniques on my own to calibrate my energy on a daily basis:
First, it always helps me to do a quick energy cleanse. What this mainly does is clear any limiting energies that I may be holding onto unconsciously. I do this by:
Closing my eyes.
Visualizing a clear field encasing my body.
(In mind.) Focusing on the intention to cleanse my entire energetic field within that moment.
After that point, so be it, and it is done.
2. The next step I take to balance my energy is to close my eyes, and bring all of my attention on my spine. For me, my spine basically represents my body’s antenna, and it’s a great tool for balancing. To do this:
I set the intention to accumulate and gather all of my energy into my spine, visualizing it as a magnetic force.
I imagine each inhale guiding my energy down my spine to the bottom, and each exhale guiding my energy up my spine to the top.
I visualize this energetic breathing pattern as a continuous and cyclical motion.
When all of my energy is rooted in my spine, I then move on to the next step.
3. Lastly, I move into my heart center by:
Closing my eyes.
Bringing all of my awareness to my heart.
Visualizing a green field of energy surrounding it, feeling both the front of my body and the back of my body.
(In mind.) Setting the intention to be centered in this space, opening myself up to giving and receiving love. So be it. ❤
Once I conclude rooting myself in my heart and along my spine, I like to finish off by visualizing energy flowing out of my heart center and into both of my palms, down my spine all the way to the bottoms of my feet, and up my spine meeting the crown of my head.
This process leaves my physical and energetic bodies balanced, aligned, and rejuvenated.
3. notice where your boundaries lie
On a closing note, I will finish on the subject of boundaries. The importance of boundaries can often be overlooked. I know it seems contrary to what I touched upon earlier on the topic of reality being a spectrum, although I did also included that there was no “one” and no “other“, having it therefore be “both“.
Using discernment can help us to determine whether boundaries serve us or limit us by being there. Boundaries can change, and sometimes they’re nonexistent when they should be present. We all create our own boundaries, and we all have them.
Sometimes we’re confused about where they lie because they were never fully established, and sometimes we let them rule our lives by seeing them as a barrier that will always be there. By having boundaries that are well-maintained and in between both of these, we find balance in setting clear boundaries of our own and respecting the boundaries of others.
A life in the middle is a never-ending dance. One of a constant flow and motion, twists and turns, rights and wrongs, and everything in between. So have fun, release rigidity, embrace your play, and be free in this wild complexity of what we call the universe. ❤
There is great power in taking a moment to stop and ask ourselves, “Why am I doing this?”
A simple question can open so many new doors.
The Power of Intention
Intention is at the core of what fuels everything.
It is important to realize that not all of our intentions are conscious. There are also unconscious intentions: When we do things without realizing why we do them.
Sometimes, we have intentions that are different from the intentions that we think, and make ourselves believe, we have. This is when we say and believe that we are doing things for one reason, while we unconsciously do them for another.
Regardless of whether it is conscious or unconscious, intention is powerful, and awareness is key in understanding why we do the things we do.
Uncovering The Source
To uncover the source of our actions, we must first become aware of the actions themselves.
When we catch ourselves doing something that we don’t know why we do, first, it is important to notice everything that we can about this action.
How does this action make me feel?
Am I completely present for this action?
Is this something that I feel obligated to do?
Does this action serve me in any way?
Why am I doing this?
The more conscious and open we are towards this action, the more we will be able to decode it. The more we will reveal about ourselves, to ourselves, and the closer we will become to understanding who we really are.
(Note: This is also a form of shadow work.)
It is ultimately our choice whether we put in the work to comprehend these underlying intentions that we all hold, and once we do so, we can make the conscious decision to choose a path of intent that serves us. This is what it means to live consciously.
Does It Serve You?
Now, the BIG question: Does this action serve youbased on the intention that fuels it?
This goes back to how the action makes you feel. Replenished? Drained? Fulfilled? Regretful? Do you do it out of love and compassion? Spite and envy? Does it bring you joy and excitement? Lack and dissatisfaction? Whatever it may be, the true answer lies in how it makes you feel.
From this point, my simple rule of thumb moving forward is: “If it does serve me,then keep it. If it does not serve me,then get rid of it. For if it does not serve me, and I still keep it, then I am only betraying myself.“
I understand, first hand, how difficult of a process letting go can be, especially if it is something that we have become comfortable with. Regardless though, the first step in letting go of actions that do not serve us is by setting the intention to do so.
Setting New Intentions
Genuine, new intentions.
In other words: If we, on some level, do not want the intention to be set, then it will not be set. It requires mental clarity and focus, a conscious understanding of “why” the intention is being set in the first place, and the will for the set intention to be carried out.
In addition: When we make the decision to set a new intention, this intention can be for no one other than ourselves. It has to be an intention set by us, for us. Even if we set the intention to “give back to others“, we would have to do so from a place of being open to receive.
(Also, please note: Prioritizing the self is not selfish, for we can never give if our tap is empty.)
In conclusion: The best way to clear intentions that fuel actions that do not serve us, is to set new intentions that fuel actions that do. Intention is powerful, so let us choose to be conscious, and choose positive intent, for ourselves and others.
United Being 