McDowell – Cracks in Consciousness

Get Back to Where You Once Belonged

“The proper teaching is recognized with ease. You can know it without fail because it awakens within you the sensation that tells you this is something you’ve always known.” Frank Herbert

I love the Internet. I love being able to find information on any topic from countless points of view and too-numerous-to-count perspectives. I can learn about anything that astounds, interests, amuses, confuses, or just plain annoys me.

But as much as I love it, I can quickly become overwhelmed with the staggering volume of information that is available at the click of a link.

Plus, I can easily fall into another information trap: the assumption that the way to enlightenment requires not only exploring all of the tools but using them all as well in order to ensure I do something or learn something the “right” way.

But if we believe that enlightenment cannot be achieved without using all of the tools available, and, moreover, buying books and attending workshops and signing up for webinars are the only means by which we learn to use these tools, then the tools may become a trap. Which for most of us means that instead of trusting ourselves to know what is in our best and highest interest, we look to what others have to say about it.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m all for asking for guidance when I need guidance. There are times when we need help from someone else who is further along the path, who has the experience, wisdom, knowledge, and tools we need to explore the path we’re on. And so I sign up for classes, buy books, attend workshops, and I myself am an Intuitive Mentor. But, the starting point must be in our ability to recognize our OWN abilities, to trust our intuition, as we carve out for ourselves the path through the wilderness that is our time here on Earth.

In “What Color is Your Parachute,” Richard Bolles makes this observation: “Your heart knows the places that it loves. Your mind knows the subjects that it loves. Your soul knows the values that it loves.” He refers to these places as our “favorite geographies,” the places that our soul, heart, and mind most often yearn to be.

Are you listening to the truest part of yourself? Do you know what your “favorite geographies” are? What speaks to the deepest part of your nature?

Surely, the most credible vital facts are what we know at the soul level about ourselves. And I think we all know our truths, our own credible vital facts. We only need to listen to our own clear voice.

A Helluva Start

“It’s a helluva start, being able to recognize what makes you happy.” Lucille Ball

Do you know what makes you happy? Or are you more familiar with what makes you unhappy rather than happy? Do you even know what “happy” means? What it feels like, or sounds like, or looks like?

There was a time that I didn’t. A therapist asked me whether I was happy, and I literally drew a blank. I had no idea how to answer the question. In fact, I had no frame of reference whatsoever for “happiness.” And, at the time, I didn’t realize that we are supposed to feel happy or that it’s okay to be happy.

If we start to look around, we might see that our lives are often filled with small, day-to-day occurrences that can make us happy. But most of us don’t recognize that. Instead, we focus on the negative.

But when the going gets tough, the tough – do what? What do you do that always brings a smile to your face no matter what?

There are countless sources of information that can help you figure out what makes you happy. But the FIRST step is in recognizing that you DON’T recognize what makes you happy.

So, get your helluva start right now!

(And by the way, you might start by watching some of Lucille Ball’s now iconic comedy routines (think the chocolate conveyor belt or the “Vitameatavegamin” routine.)

Skipping Stones

Are you a rock thrower? When you have a goal in mind, do you set off with purpose, moving ever forward, keeping up your momentum, and sticking resolutely to your goal? Or, do you focus on the reasons why you shouldn’t start? Do you find yourself creating obstacles to your success? Instead of just starting out, do you start to question whether you really need to achieve your goal?

I hate to admit it but I’ve tossed more than a few rocks into my smooth pathway.

Most of us have an Achilles heel of our own devising that keeps us from taking that first step towards achieving our goals. For us, then, the journey must be one of discovery and self-realization.

And the first step on this smooth pathway is paradoxically simple: You must start by exploring what it is that keeps you from getting started. Is it the fear of failure or, perhaps, the fear of success?

Visualize yourself getting started and then get in touch with what you’re feeling and thinking concerning this picture in your mind. Keep asking yourself, “What is underlying this?” Keep peeling the onion to reveal what lies beneath. Then try to discover what resources, emotions, or experiences you can draw upon to help you overcome the rocks you’ve thrown before you in your path. Most importantly, find out what it is that will keep you going – and make that happen!

Interested in doing a deep dive into smoothing the pathway before you? Check out my book, “I’ve Been Down Here Before But This Time I Know The Way Out.” You’ll hear from people who started out with one set of ideas, perceptions, thoughts, beliefs, and experiences, recognized the rocks they were throwing before them, and then ended up at a “not in a million years” place that was far different from anywhere they had been before. Most importantly, they’ll tell you how they did it so that you can do it too!

https://tinyurl.com/mvkk5j46

Be Willing To Be Willing

For most of us, giving ourselves permission is challenging. For many reasons, we can’t or won’t allow ourselves to put ourselves first. Instead, we simply put one foot in front of the other and gut it out.

Part generational, part genetic, part upbringing, there are many reasons why we never consider what we might really want or what might be in our best and highest interest. We simply do what we think, or believe, we have to do. We jump into the hole, we see the steep walls, and then we don’t even acknowledge that there might be a way out, let alone cry out for help.

But giving ourselves permission to willingly consider alternatives is the key to reinvention.

Consider this quote from Richard Bach: “No matter how qualified or deserving we are, we will never reach a better life until we can imagine it for ourselves and allow ourselves to have it.”

Willingness is a necessary precursor to taking action: you have to be willing to do something – or, at the very least, willing to try to do something – in order to keep moving forward.

I believe that when we give ourselves permission to rethink, to consider other possibilities, we crack open a door to our Higher Self – and our Higher Self, recognizing that the door has been cracked open, wedges a crowbar in to make sure that we consider a different way ahead.

In order to crack open that door to your Higher Self, you need to spend some time figuring out what it means to give yourself permission in terms of your own personal transformation and reinvention.

Once you can delve deeply into the concept of permission, you will be able to recognize the impact it can have, not only on your reinvention journey but on your entire life.

Want to learn more about giving yourself permission and the reinvention journey? Check out my book, “I’ve Been Down Here Before But This Time I Know The Way Out,” available on Amazon!

https://www.amazon.com/Been-Down-Here-Before-This/dp/1514123150

A Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing

“When you live your story, you don’t have to pretend you’re someone you’re not. You can just be yourself.” Blake Mycoskie

Personally, I love pretending to be someone I’m not. My two favorite things are Halloween and historical reenactment. I have a basement full of costumes, and I like nothing more than dressing up like someone else.

Donning a costume allows me to unleash my inner wannabes. Wannabe a knight in shining armor? Wrap yourself in aluminum foil and strap on a kitchen knife (I’m all about improvising when I need to). Wannabe a rock star? Try some fake tattoos (or the real thing, if you’re so inclined; I happen to be covered with body art), grab a plastic guitar, and use a garden spade as your microphone (like I said, I’m good at improvising). Or, make it really easy, and just head to the nearest karaoke bar.

At one time or another, all of us have had to pretend to be someone else. “Fake it ‘til you make it” is a well-known phrase in recovery forums, and has become a mainstream sentiment as well. Nervous about an upcoming interview? Pretend to be the smartest person on the planet. Afraid of public speaking? Pretend you’re just talking to a friend (that whole, “picture everyone naked” approach never worked for me anyway).

However, being yourself is just a whole lot easier than trying to be someone you’re not. It takes an incredible amount of psychic and spiritual energy to be constantly making yourself up as you go.

For example, as long as you have to work in order to have what you need or want your life to include, you’ll be happier—or at least more willing to show up and do the work—if the work you do aligns with your Authentic Self and what is most important to you. If you describe yourself as Introverted, you might be happier teleworking than working in an office environment where everyone is chummy, and there is an expectation of doing things together socially. As another example, if you define yourself as Spontaneous, you might find that working at a 9-to-5 job where you have to sign in and out is too restrictive.

Oscar Wilde said this, “Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken.”

Are you living your own glorious, inspiring, significant life story? Or, are you a wolf in sheep’s clothing, longing to howl at the moon, but only able to bleat weakly with the other sheep?

Think about it!