An acquaintance of mine had what she describes as a spiritual awakening a little over a year ago. A series of events happened that  completely changed her life that led to this spiritual awakening.  She has been facing lots of challenges lately.  They have been showing up in the form of people misunderstanding her intentions to the point of accusing her of lying. She is also experiencing conflict in her life.  She asked for feedback and guidance on how she can shine her light more brightly . Her question struck a cord in me. I thought it might be helpful to share my response to her here because the story I shared has been an important lesson for me and a theme for many folks I know too.

I want to tell you a little story about something that happened to me the summer before I graduated from college. I met a man in Glastonbury, England who owned a cool little metaphysical book store called Pandora’s Box.  As I was browsing in the store, Jim and I started chatting. Before I knew it I realized a couple of hours had passed.   As I was preparing to leave the store, Jim told me that he was going to put my contact info in his “Book of Healers” that he kept in the store.  Jim told me that I was a healer.  I remember it vividly because it was the first time anyone had acknowledged this about me.  He also told me that he had a gift for me.  He gave me a pin that said “Your approval is not essential“ and he told me that this was an important lesson for me.

My afternoon with Jim in Glastonbury turned out to be a highlight of my travels that summer. When I came home I remembered the pin and cherished it for many years. I am not sure what happened to that pin.  It was passed from girlfriend to girlfriend and eventually I lost track of it.  The wisdom remains with me and 20 years later, there are times when I need to remind myself of Jim and his pin.

Many of us, at times, have felt different than others.  We may feel like we are more sensitive than those around us. This has shown up for me at many point in my life, beginning within my own family.  I often felt like the odd man out and was told repeatedly that I was “too sensitive”.  It  has shown up in my life as conflict at times too.  Sometimes by shining our light we can help others to shine their light too.  Sometimes our light makes people uncomfortable and they may unconsciously push us away so that they do not have to look at what makes them uncomfortable.  With conflict there is always a learning opportunity.

The more that I have been able to tap into my essence and my life purpose the more I have been able to see the energy in situations like the challenges that my friend was facing.  As I learn to see the energy I am more easily able to notice what is mine and what belongs to someone else.  Being able to stay neutral with other people’s stuff has helped me to experience less conflict in my life.  The more I can be in my essence the more I can see that I am a part of the whole.

And we are all One.  Feeling centered and connected are key for living juicy lives and love, gratitude and forgiveness are tools that can help us to feel at one with the world and bring more peace into our lives.

Sending you blessings of love, light and peace. ♥

Gently moving forward,

Kat