Category: Soul journey

Being True to Your Soul Self

© 2010 Anne S. Katzeff / Artist
© 2010 Anne S. Katzeff / Artist
It’s challenging to be your authentic self in the world today. Marketing seems to have taken over every aspect of life. There’s been a blurring between business, sports, and daily life in the personal coaching and self-marketing phenomenon. People seem to want to be “cheered on” to greatness, yet is it authentic, soul-guided greatness, or a “greatness” defined by social values that tout fame, financial gain, and material acquisition above anything else?

Ultimately, life is not a business (or a sports event), and marketing yourself without awareness can lead to inauthenticity and an unhappy life, both at work and at home. In author Susan Cain’s recent book Quiet, she discusses the cultural bias in favor of extraverted behavior in our society. In schools, homes, and workplaces across this country, individuals are encouraged—nay, pushed—to be outgoing, super-productive team-players. Quiet contemplative solo time is heavily discouraged, and those who do their best creative work alone or who like to balance social time with solitude often find themselves as either uncomfortable full-time group participants or total outsiders.

We have lost touch with the value of authenticity, a life lived in alignment with the soul’s deepest flowering, unique to each person. It’s time to “get real,” as the saying goes. There is no cookie-cutter prototype for the best way to work and live on this planet. We need fluid social/work structures that allow for variation and individuality. Some of the most creative innovators in history did not fit in but walked their own path to greatness. It’s time we recognized this and allowed each person the freedom to expand and grow in his or her own way. Hardened social paradigms stunt individual expression and authenticity. Fluidity and flexibility open the door for all people, whatever their creative style, to be their soul selves in the world.

Of course, we’re facing a monolithic business prototype that values competition over cooperation, profit and product over people, and that too has to shift. So many men and women are caught on the hamster wheel of achievement and acquisition, but as the planet begins to rebalance itself, these values will change also. Status and material objects do not equal happiness. It’s like the old Frank Capra classic film You Can’t Take It With You, in which friendship, family, and community are found to bring greater joy (and much more fun!) than corporate boardrooms. Capra had a penchant for making those kinds of films. It’s a Wonderful Life has a similar message: money is valued only when it’s shared and can help others.

So what exactly is “real” in our rapidly changing social matrix today? Real is looking deep inside yourself and living from that soul place. There is a quiet voice within that will guide you to your own creative expression in life. In listening to and living in alignment with your inner spirit, you will “be the change you wish to see in the world.” You don’t have to wait for validation from outside. In being true to your soul self, you will inspire others to do the same, and together we will co-create a reality that fulfills our greatest dreams.

Free Fall to Infinity

Grand Canyon, NPS
Grand Canyon © National Park Service
Some of you may recall a blog article I wrote last year called “Infinity.” In it, I described my lifelong fear of infinity/eternity and my first individual session with Panache Desai in which he took me to infinity. Unlike the mind-freezing terror I had experienced late at night at the thought of a never-ending universe, what I felt with Panache was free-floating peace and calm. No real sense of time or space; no thoughts, no emotion. Yet a comforting soft energy surrounded me. I remained in that state for hours, and the experience shifted my consciousness profoundly. The late-night fear did not occur for more than a year and a half.

This past summer, however, the terror-infinity thoughts began to recur, more and more frequently. I gradually realized that I was being prepared for the next phase in the evolution of this deep-seated fear. Consequently, I decided to take part in Panache’s 21-day program of “vibrational activation,” which consisted of daily meditations and energetic transmissions, interactive telephone sessions, and online group support. Each participant wrote an intention for the 21 days, and mine was to walk through my fear to freedom. A friend had recently told me that “terror is the final barrier to merging with God,” which actually helped give me a positive incentive for the journey.

How to explain an inner process that practically defies language? I will try. The first thing I experienced was a subtle shift in the energy around the terror, which allowed me to get closer to it than I ever had before. Usually panic took hold of me completely, and I froze. But one night I was able to access what was an integral part of the terror: overwhelming grief. Was this the sum total of life—a universe without end and an equally endless state of being or nonbeing? The despair I felt was so strong that I shut down entirely. But in a phone session, Panache sent me energy for the grief, and I was able to feel it through completely—days and days of crying at the “painful beauty” of life, then anger at the unfairness, and finally emotional neutrality and an inability to access the terror at all. I was in a holding pattern, wondering what would come next. I wrote online: “I feel as if I’m sitting on the edge of something HUGE—like the Grand Canyon with God in the middle of it. If only I could find a way to free fall into that vastness—or get someone to push me!”

Around the same time, another group member posted this quote by William Blake: “To see a World in a Grain of Sand/And a Heaven in a Wild Flower/Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand/And Eternity in an hour.” I have always loved those lines, but that evening I read them as if for the first time. The words infinity and eternity leapt out at me. World upon world opened up inside me. I realized that I had held Infinite Spirit in the pulsing palms of my hands during sessions with Panache. And I had experienced the Eternal Now in meditation, with my soul as silent witness. What we call God, or Spirit, exists as infinity and eternity and loving presence within each moment. Now is all there is, ever, and my soul doesn’t fear infinity because it is infinity. Only the mind is terrified of something that is beyond parameters, beyond thought really.

The next morning, during meditation in my back yard, I sat silently observing all the dimensions of the universe playing out magnificently within me. Opening my eyes and looking up at the infinite eternal peaceful blue sky, I felt my heart and soul as one with everything. No separation, no duality. I am the Grand Canyon and God. And life is a free fall that includes it all.

Writing Your Soul Self into the World

Photograph © 2012 Peggy Kornegger
Photograph © 2012 Peggy Kornegger

Every time you write, you are expressing something about yourself, sending a vibration, either a faint, half-hearted one or a full-on, authentic blast of your soul self. Whether it’s an email, a social media post, or an article or book intended for publication, it is filled with your vibes—clear and forthright or vaguely uncertain. In the world of vibration and perceived intent, writing is the same as speaking. We are announcing who we are in the world with every word we utter, out loud or in cyberspace. The question is: How truthful are we when we speak/write? True to ourselves, that is.

We may write one thing but mean something entirely different, and the recipient is left confused and unsettled. We may not really know what we mean ourselves if we write impulsively or hurriedly, which is often the case in our fast-lane, multi-tasking world. Meditation teachers often tell students to take a deep breath and pause before speaking or acting in order to bring themselves into present-moment awareness. Clarity of mind and connection to the inner soul self rests in that deep breath and pause. Or at least I’ve found that to be true in my life.

If I rush through the day, speeding from one activity or conversation to another without resetting my inner focus, then I am scattered, stressed, and probably presenting that energy to those I encounter. If I take the time to breathe consciously for a minute or two and really look around at my surroundings, everything shifts into a softer, slower mode, and I have made space for my inner spirit to come to the fore. I feel more centered and grounded in who I really am at heart instead of being only half-aware, half-present in my own day-to-day life. I don’t always remember to do this, but when I do, it makes a big difference in how I experience everyone and everything. And the more I remember….well, the more I remember….

Since I’m a writer, this little piece of wisdom has been invaluable to me. Writing from the surface of the brain without involving my heart and soul makes for dull, inert content unconnected to the life force from which all creativity springs. When I write from my heart, then I experience a conscious alignment with who I am at the deepest level. Words and sentences seem to flow more easily when my heart is engaged, not just my brain. My spirit, or soul self, unique to me, steps forward into the world to express herself. I treasure that connection to my inner self.

More and more, people today understand how energy makes up our entire universe. We are energy, and our words are also energy. Why not make them truly represent who you are at the deepest level, which is love? Use language creatively, playfully, to send a loving vibration into the world. Pause, take a breath, and align the words you write with your truest self. There is no one else exactly like you on the planet, so express your unrepeatable, full-color soul self in everything you write—whether tweet or blog or email. Now more than ever, your voice is needed in the world. Together, our collective positive energy can shift everything!

The Real Magic Kingdom

Photograph © 2013 Peggy Kornegger
Photograph © 2013 Peggy Kornegger
Last month, during the summer solstice, I participated in a very special weekend celebration called Living in the Heart of Possibility, the annual Global Gathering put together by Panache Desai and staff/volunteers. This was my third year being part of the incredible energy created by nearly 500 people gathered from all over the world (42 states, 21 countries), and it was the best yet. In Orlando, Florida, not far from Disney World, we found ourselves within a “magic kingdom” beyond anything even Walt Disney could have imagined. The magic was in our hearts—and in the connections we felt among us, individually and collectively.

In the course of three days, we had wildly diverse experiences ranging from uncontrollable laughter (Panache is very funny) to tears of release and joy. Sessions included activities that opened us up on multiple levels: yoga; improv “volleyball” with dozens of giant beach balls; full-out crazy dancing to an eclectic mix of rap, rock, kirtan, and Monty Python; ongoing sharing of life stories which often led to individual and group emotional breakthroughs (with Panache’s help); and deep inward journeys within the powerful catalytic energy that Panache transmits vibrationally. At a wonderful event on Saturday night, volunteers from our group offered free massage, Reiki, angel guidance, chakra healing, hugs, and other gifts of love to participants. Basically, we were all in an altered state of consciousness throughout the weekend—and continuing into the weeks that followed. Every small detail of life felt miraculous, every conversation deeply meaningful.

This state, filled with seemingly never-ending synchronicities and miracles, is becoming our new “normal” in the world. I have experienced it increasingly powerfully at every Panache event and every global Livestream he has facilitated online. Our lives are shifting in such a magical way that the miraculous streams nonstop now. Within this energy, in person or in cyberspace, there is a sense of profound connection and oneness—I becoming We. Inner doors open wider and wider until they fly off the hinges, and we are just in open space, expanding infinitely. Timelessness, heart-centered conscious awareness, and moment-to-moment living are not aspired to but just experienced effortlessly. During the weekend, every time I looked into the eyes of another person, there was no separation: I am You; We are One in Spirit. This is the global consciousness that is rising to the forefront of our awareness more and more as 2013 unfolds.

Unarguably, there continue to be challenging events and circumstances in the world, but there are also extraordinary human experiences in the midst of the turmoil of great change. Recent examples: the spontaneous massive demonstrations of the people of Turkey and Brazil; the U.S. Supreme Court decisions clearing the way for acceptance of gay marriage. All of it is part of the extreme polarities playing out as we move through a great shift in planetary consciousness. The hidden pain and repressed emotional density within all of us is now being experienced through to completion, and we are emerging with new clarity and lightness of being. Collectively, we are looking around and seeing family where once we saw aliens. We are stepping into a new world in which difference is embraced and celebrated instead of shunned and hated.

Don’t see it yet? It’s there, just not in the mass media or the prevailing interpretation of reality. The dominant paradigm is gradually crumbling. Look through the cracks, and you can catch glimpses of other eyes looking back. In moments of shared loss or joy, in a split second, everything shifts: I AM You. That is global consciousness, and it is our birthright here on the new Planet Earth. Soon we will have no need for Disney’s Magic Kingdom. We will be living our own magic: no kings or hollow fantasies, but real multidimensional humans expanding together into infinite possibility.

The Simple Life

© 2008 Anne S. Katzeff / Artist
© 2008 Anne S. Katzeff / Artist

I have always loved the expression “Live simply so that others may simply live.” Implicit in that statement is a recognition of interconnectedness—an understanding that what I do affects the lives of others. If I live without conscious awareness of each of my actions, the entire planet feels the impact. Something as seemingly small as conserving water or buying locally grown organic food makes a difference in the world. How we live creates our future, now.

Equally important is stepping away from the emphasis on consumerism that permeates U.S. culture, especially during the holiday season. Commercials, advertisements, and the mass media promote material acquisition to the point of excess. Much has been written about our throw-away society in which people endlessly buy and discard, buy and discard, overloading landfills and polluting the environment in the process. Segments of the population live in poverty while others aspire to the “lifestyles of the rich and famous.” Money, cars, houses and all sorts of material goods to fill them is supposedly the American Dream. But is it really?

True abundance has absolutely nothing to do with money or possessions. It’s an ongoing appreciation for life’s simple gifts: air to breathe, food to eat, love of family and friends, the beauty of the world around us. Filling our lives (and the planet) with things is not abundance; it is waste. Waste that leads to an inner emptiness. If we continually look outside ourselves for fulfillment, we will always be seeking, always feel somehow lost and lacking. It is the simple life that brings the greatest contentment. Moment to moment, we eat, sleep, laugh, love. We can find extraordinary pleasure and fulfillment in the simplest, most uncomplicated activities of living a human life on Planet Earth. Chop wood, carry water, as Zen Buddhism describes life before and after enlightenment.

These are not unreachable aspirations restricted to those who want to live alone in the woods like Thoreau or achieve spiritual enlightenment. Some would say that we already have enlightenment within us, that we are already filled with infinite abundance and love. I believe this. My life is rich in countless ways that are not dependent on monetary wealth. It is the simple joys of daily life, sunrise to sunset, wherever I happen to be, that fill my heart to overflowing. In this time of evolving human being-ness, I think many people are now beginning to feel within themselves a desire for greater simplicity, inner peace, and a connection to the source of all life on Earth. May it be so, for each and every one of us.