Are you choosing to step out onto the spiritual path? Are you are choosing to discover your true nature and the unique gifts that your soul brings to this life?
Actually, stepping out onto a spiritual path is an illusory choice.
Everyone on this planet is already on a spiritual path, to which there is no beginning and no end. We are born into a physical body, but before that, we are a soul. After that we remain a soul. We come into life on Earth and we leave it. The soul has nothing else except a spiritual path. Everything in our lives is related to the path of our soul. Everything we see or bring into our lives is attracted to us because of the energy that we put out into the world and our soul's journey is weathered accordingly.
Our souls vibrate on a high level as part of the energy of the universe, but we are not putting out that energy because we create an ego and forget about our soul. As we grow we learn to stop listening to our soul because it talks a language that does not fit with the world. So we develop a new language and new codes of behaviour that help us fit into society and that's when we create the ego. It's as if we say to our soul "I'm sorry, I can't be bothered about what you're saying because nobody's going to understand it and I'm not going to survive."
And so we refine our egos and we learn to think that our ego is truly who we are. Our soul doesn't stop trying to communicate with us, but we are like kids who put their hands over their ears and shout "la la la" when we don't want to listen to our parents. We are taught to think that the messages from our soul are just 'fancies' and we'd better just move on. I remember as a small child, my inner life was very rich, but I learnt to keep very quiet about it as my experiences were not taken seriously by the adults around me. All children discover this, and most learn to forget their inner life because they think it's not useful in the world.
I remember when I was 17 and visiting my sister in LA. I had just been awarded my baccalaureate and was accepted for a place in the preparatory college for admission to the Grand Ecole in Paris - like Harvard for the French! My parents were excited and I was too. Then the creative vibe in LA triggered something in me and I signed on for a Liberal Arts course at UCLA. I felt so happy. I called my parents. They didn't shout, they just said 'this option doesn't exist in your world. It will take you nowhere.' I didn't allow myself to think they were going against the expression of my true self. My creative self was not ready at that time to stand up and say "F*** Off, I'm an artist!" I was not ready. I didn't realise that my sense of self then was anchored in my ego, the construct that I had created in order to please and survive in the world.
This is not to say that the ego is a bad thing. It protects us. It's the tool that enables our soul to live on this Earth. It is the soul's translator. So we need our ego to exist hand-in-hand in harmony with our soul - in balance so that we can both manage our lives in society and truly express the creative gifts our soul has to offer. Because this is when we thrive and experience true joy and the connection with our selves and others.
In order for this to happen we have to recognise which of our attributes belong to our soul and which belong to our ego. This recognition comes through meditation and other methods that I'll talk about in my blog so you can discover what helps you personally to best access your creativity. This process shines light on the path of your soul. You are not stepping out on your spiritual path. You are simply learning to see it clearly.
But why bother if as human beings we're all on a spiritual path anyway? Because by shining a light on our path, we gain a clear vision of who we truly are and understand better the big picture of our lives. We can then learn how to live our life in alignment with our true self. And our true strength will suddenly be revealed to us. For some it is not an easy choice to step away from a routine that does not fit: we all get used to it, it's convenient to keep hiding behind masks, to repeat scenarios where our fears are handled...but eventually the soul will manifest its frustration at its lack of expression and it will show us that it's time to live our life in line with the truths within it.
Our soul never stops sending us messages, trying to show us who we truly are. And life has shown me if we keep ignoring it, we will be brought face to face with the question: "Is this all there is?" We may be very successful in society and in terms of our ego but we are most likely going to feel miserable and that we've reached a dead-end. I really believe it's why we experience a "mid life crisis" - though it can occur at any age.
As you connect with your soul you shine light on its path and you get a beautiful new view of your life. It's like you've been on a journey in the dark where you are surrounded by glittering jewels. You can't see them and have no idea they are there. But as you switch on the torch and the beam gets bigger and brighter you become aware of the immense treasure glittering all around you. And as you learn to recognise this wonderful new terrain you will see that by anchoring your sense of self in your heart, in your soul, instead of in your ego, you give yourself a magic lamp to light the way to harmony with your true self.
Moving your centre of consciousness from one spot to the other - from your mind which holds obsessive patterns and is super-reactive to life - to your heart which is your centre of spiritual consciousness, is like giving yourself the perspective of slow- motion on life because you know you don't need to get agitated for your life to progress or advance. When your sense of self is rooted in your heart you will connect to - and learn how to nourish - your emotional, physical and spiritual well-being.
When you connect with your soul, and live life from the awareness this brings, you will be living on a higher energetic level. You will attract the greater brilliance of higher energies into your life. You will grow to understand the gifts that your soul has to offer which are the tools for you to create the life that you dream of. Last but not least, you will align yourself to the rhythm of the flow of life because the energy of the soul resonates with that. You will experience the sense of being in harmony with a higher order and living with coincidences, good surprises and doors opening before you. Or if they shut, you'll know it's to show you the value of change.
Enjoy the path !
Join me on my Life Labs video blog platform for more conversation and meditations on finding our spiritual paths:
https://lifelabs.psychologies.co.uk/users/1846-karen-ruimy/videos/626-clearing-the-path-to-your-soul
www.karenruimy.com