(Kruskal diagram)

The cat’s out of the bag

So you’ve awakened from the dream you thought your life should be by now. Or maybe you got the life you wanted, but it doesn’t feel as you imagined it would. Wherever you are, you are waking up and seeing through the veil of illusions that were sold to you. Which, we don’t need to reprimand the seller, that isn’t what this is about.

In fact, we’re all here teaching each other, perfectly placed in each others lives at the perfect moments, in order to learn the lessons and explore the themes our souls signed up to play with this time around. Buyers and sellers of all walks of life, so to speak.

Those themes and those lessons are the very reason you are here, now, reading this essay. Growing through the shedding of an old identity, contemplating what is true for you now, and who exactly are ‘you’ anyways? All this in order that you may become new once again, and then once again, die to that new you. Only to be, yet again, reborn. It’s quite a dance we do, innit?

You’re somewhere in between knowing it’s time to evolve and the anticipation of not knowing what exactly is it that’s supposed to happen next. It’s tricky territory to be in. But let us not forget that to be here is symbolic of your evolution thus far. To be in the in between already is the evolving process, underway.

In fact, take a moment to just be here. Being right where you are, as you are, without a need to know what lies beyond here, immediately reduces the anxiety of not knowing what’s next, or the temptation to try to figure it out.

And the truth is, you have come so far. Despite how far it may feel like you still have to go. Or maybe you feel as if you don’t know where it is you can go from here. That is where I come in. In this uncomfortable suspension you find yourself in, metaphorically flipped upside down, waiting for something to happen, is actually the perfect environment to re-discover possibility.

Now is the time to open up beyond your usual ways of thinking, feeling, and perceiving the world. It is time to welcome new perspectives, new understandings, and to re-emerge into your life with greater clarity - not because you suddenly have all the answers you thought you needed, but because you have learned to let go of needing to have it all figured out and have started to embrace the unknown.

The unknown is really just more of yourself, more parts of you that you have yet to discover. In every new season where we seem to be unavoidably faced with the unknown, trust and believe it is all always divinely orchestrated by your higher self, to get you more acquainted and familiar with that very self.

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The unknown

(The Hanged Man XII, Haindl Tarot, Hermann Haindl)

Now, I’m tempted to say this is the fun part. Yet, we are all familiar with the fact that sometimes this unknown can feel the furthest thing from a good time. Especially when it’s asking you to rebuild a life, let alone an identity.

This unknown can be experienced at varying intensities at different stages of the journey. Anywhere from the dark night of the soul, plunging into the depths of your shadow, armored with your anchor of light (that is, your hope). Relentlessly refusing to give up on yourself, pulling from some raw material and energy source within that you perhaps weren’t aware of until the very moment it was demanded of you in order to keep going. Or, perhaps, something a bit lighter, like The Fool beginning her journey through the Major Arcana of the tarot.

It really depends on where you are at. In my experience, we move through cycles. We are always returning to similar themes that our soul came here to explore, learn, and even offer to others. Each time we return to these great themes of our lives from different perspectives and perceptions, we expand with greater knowledge and eventually, greater wisdom.

Again and again and

By now you may be beginning to remember that this is nothing new to you. You have already come out the other side of many deaths, many rebirths just in this lifetime alone, have you not?

Imagine, for a moment, the scale this takes as a soul journeying through life after life after life. Seeking answers, eventually finding them, only to later come again to the crushing realization that no matter what we seek for and find in this world, it will never satisfy that soul ache. The soul longs for a different kind of return, something that is satiated only in higher levels of consciousness.

Here though, we are concerned with the evolution of consciousness through the mechanism of identity. This thing we call our ego, which painstakingly renders your experience of life according to how fused you are to it or not. Again the question may arise here, who exactly is this ‘you’ anyways?

Deep down in your bones, you know this. It’s embedded in you. There is a natural, intuitive, even instinctual knowing that this cyclic process is just the game you are here to play and participate in. Until of course, you outgrow that game too. But until that time, we must play on.

Death (Black hole)

The metaphorical equivalent of a physical death is, of course, the dreaded ego death. In particular here, the loss of a life you envisioned yourself living. It may even be your own creation, a life that you actualized and manifested, that you are now outgrowing.

If it still stings, there is something that wants to be seen and acknowledged, and perhaps even grieved. This would be something you’re holding onto, not quite yet ready to let go of. Pause here to consider what that thing may be for you.
Most likely, it is something you may be trying to bring into your next evolution. In this case, consider: What would happen if you did let it go? ‘What would happen’ is admittedly quite vague, so let’s really spell that out.

Consider how would it feel if you could not take that part of yourself or your life with you moving forward from this moment? If you have a hard time imagining yourself giving it up willingly, this is attachment territory. You’ve just discovered an attachment.

(Death XIII, Ancient Tarot of Liguria-Piedmont)

All is well, of course. Because this is just an exercise. If you struggle to let things go in this phase of the process, it’s always comforting to remember iteration is a thing. When we grip on too tightly to the way things are and have been, we can suffocate the very life out of them. And perhaps in the process kill the very thing that made it so special to us in the first place.

Experiment with iterating on those things. Free yourself from that old ego grip. And remember that any areas of you that refuse to grow will keep you trapped in this phase. Like Lord Voldemort in that liminal train station. Not quite dead yet, but definitely not alive either.

Unknown returns

Get curious to know what lies beyond this door. As someone once said (seriously not sure who actually said this quote - there are mixed debates about this so I will leave it ambiguous, and fittingly, unknown), “The best way to predict the future is to create it.”

Curiosity opens the door, while creative energy brings that door (and what lies beyond it) to life. This inevitable unknown, when it does return, is not a sign of failure. It’s a sign of growth, of maturation, of alignment on your journey.

Perhaps it is even a signal that it’s time to imagine again. To move out of the familiar - which, by the way, may feel like something you’ve just settled into, just got so comfortably nestled into, only to have your soul nudging you, once again, not to get too comfortable there. Because this is the nature of things - to change, to grow, to evolve.

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Birth (White hole)

Signs of life appear only after we have spent necessary time grieving the dead. Intuitively you will know when it’s time to begin imagining the new. And that is what this phase of the journey, Rebirth, asks of you: to imagine.

It is a time to consider that which was released during the Death phase, the lessons you have learned, who are you now, and that which wants to be born anew from a deeper and truer expression of self.

You may come through this rebirth with a sense of revitalization, like the phoenix who rises from the ashes literally on fire with vital energy. Touched by it’s own spirit, liberated by the very thing that used to bind it. In that higher energy, you are lighter. You are wiser. You know more of the truth of who you are (because you’ve been curious to know). In fact, it’s that inner truth that has brought you back to life, is it not? Naturally, you may want to expand your previous visions and intentions moving forward, or set totally new ones.

Think back to the death phase once more. As you were confronted with the attachments you may have been holding on to unconsciously, you made the higher choice when you decided to let those attachments go. In your surrender of them, and even just in acknowledging they are there, energy that was previously spent in the mind holding on to these things (ideas, beliefs, perceptions, identity, etc.) returned to you. The highlight here is that now you know what is the quality of a higher choice, that of freedom, and what is the quality of a lower choice, that which leaves you bound.

Your new vision of the future may take the form of a higher derivative of the previous form your vision took. Which simply means, the thing you let go of was not the thing itself but the way in which you were able to relate to it in your old identity.

By higher derivative or higher octave it is meant that in a higher form or level of consciousness, we have greater access to the fuller picture. We are more refined, more universal, more evolved. On this note of forms taking new shapes, evolving into higher versions, it’s a good place to remind ourselves that this is a forever journey. There truly is no destination, and you can’t get it wrong. Wherever you are in the cycle of birth-death-rebirth, trust that you are exactly where you are meant to be.

(The Star XVII, Rider-Waite Tarot)

Since there have been some unintentional tarot references woven through this entire piece - with The Hanged Man, Death, and The Fool for your new beginnings - it’s fitting to end with a reflection on The Star card.

The Star card is traditionally the emblem of hope. In my view, I see it also as the naked, natural being that you are. Beyond every layer of identity, beneath every image, and much deeper than any program, belief, thought, or feeling. And yet, it encompasses and includes and embraces all of that too.

She is free and impersonal to the core, yet she knows that she is deeply connected to everything, and to something much bigger than herself. And in that way she feels quite personal. One foot in the world, one foot in the cosmos, she embodies the human condition and the transcendence from it. Or at least that is the hope she offers. Because there is always light to be shed on whatever darkness may arise or linger.

Star reminds me of this hope, of this deep truth, of connection itself. On this note, may your rebirth be epic and on fire with universal love. May it take you into higher and higher qualities. May your consciousness continue to rise and may it contribute to the evolution of consciousness for all.

Thank you for reading, thank you for being here, and as always thank you for doing the work. ♡

Until next time.

Sending all my love,

Star

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(Gustav Klimt. The Park. 1910 or earlier. Oil on canvas. 43 1/2 x 43 1/2 in. Museum of Modern Art, New York.)

Absorption

Have you ever found yourself totally enamored with a piece of art, maybe a painting in a museum, or a vintage record, and you totally lose yourself in the beauty of it?

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Like right now, as I sit down to write this thing, there is more resistance dominant than there is a sense of pleasure or flow or readiness (at least, not yet). There are more incomplete thoughts lingering in the mind about what exactly to write, than there is a clear and sure direction of where to take this piece.

However, still and yet, there is something deep down inside of me that somehow knows this is the thing to do. This is the obstacle of the moment to overcome, the dragon to slay, the resistance to move through.

Being in the trenches of your own inner conflict and facing the resistance to growth is one of the best uses of your time on this planet. Truly. Why? Because it is the most rewarding.

Pleasure is not a reward, and pain is not a punishment, they are ordinary occurrences.
Chōgya Trungpa

Light Worker, Helena Rye

When I say the most rewarding, I am not talking about the external appearances of rewards or surface level feelings of temporary satisfaction (both of which we will dive deeper into later on). I am referring to the genuine sense of fulfillment that arises from doing that which your soul directs you to do, not your senses. Yes, it asks a bit more of you than does the path of sensory pleasure, but the soul’s promises are always fulfilled.

To follow the allure of your senses ceaselessly is to be enslaved to them; to what is forever temporary, ephemeral, and never truly gives the fulfillment that is promised. To follow the path of your soul, spirit, higher self, bigger self, well that too is an unseen path, but the ‘payoff’ goes beyond this world, the world of the senses.

Rewards

Let’s imagine there are two hypothetical, distinct metric systems. They are very similar; both are like a barometer, and both are used for measuring ‘rewards’. However, each one is measuring according to different standards, and those standards are based on varying levels of qualities which are derived from different levels of consciousness.

One of these two systems is measuring for qualities that are of the grosser nature: large, obvious, loud, easily available, and common. While the other is measuring for qualities of an extremely subtle and sensitive grade: fine, rare, quiet, and uncommon.

The grosser and superficial system is measuring for stimuli that seem desirable, satisfactory, and important in the moment, but inevitably lead one to experiencing feelings more akin to burnout, loss of pleasure, and dissatisfaction. This is what happens when the reward system is hi-jacked by the wrong measuring system due to excessive exposure to the wrong stimuli. In other words, this system is measuring based on a life lived enslaved by the physical senses. We barely notice how our actions are being influenced to negatively effect our overall sense of fulfillment because we are unaware of how our actions are feeding the wrong system. Because we are feeding the wrong system to try to attain the desired state of fulfillment, we never actually experience what we are looking for. Fulfillment comes from the subtler system.

That subtler and sensitive system is deep within you, and it determines your true sense of satisfaction, reward, pleasure and ultimate happiness. It is extremely sensitive to particular stimuli, that which is in resonance with your soul, your heart, your truest essence. It only responds to those things which are a measure of that quality. This is why to use your time wisely on this planet is to become familiar with this inner, subtle, sensitive system within you, precisely; how it operates, and what exactly does it respond to in the likes of your thoughts, feelings, and actions (as stimuli).

In this example, it responds to the work you do to overcome limitations. Such as sensing into the feeling beyond the resistance, that there is another part of your soul that lay waiting to be revealed to you and by you. That is worth working towards, worth growing in the direction of.

On the contrary, those things which ask nothing of your soul, and demand no revelations or deeper exercise of the mind, nor do they ask you to overcome or surmount any major obstacle, resolve any conflict, they merely present you with the prize, with almost zero spiritual effort required, are harmful to your evolution. The only effort these things ask of you is the mechanical kind, which resides in the realm of humankind’s lower nature. For example automation, which is akin to slavery when under the dictates of the senses. Because they come from a lower realm of consciousness, they are fulfilling only by a lower quality measurement of reward and satisfaction.

Lower Qualities

Characteristics that determine these lower qualities of human nature:

• Excess, over exposure to stimuli which induces the sensation of reward but without the actual earned reward. Think of things like scrolling social media and the ‘instant gratification’ effect from fast food or fast fashion.

• Vanity, self-image is taken as true self. An example is placing appearances above what would be the genuine experience to back it. As an analogy, think of an empty container but with the image of items on the outside.

• Entitlement, no restraint or will power, you automatically expect at a higher threshold because you have been living without regard for limits or restraints. A result of excess, living under the intoxicating reign of the senses.

Higher Qualities

Characteristics that determine these higher qualities of human nature:

• Integrity, you earned that shit and you know it. Part of this quality assumes the state of receiving just as much as it assumes the state of creating, transforming, sharing, and giving. Balance and reciprocity are essential.

• Authenticity, this is the quality of self-image that is a truer reflection of mind. You literally overcame something, transcended a limitation, achieved a goal, and/or have the lived experience to back the image you present to the world.

• Freedom, the presence and prevalence of will power. Will power is developed through living the principles you have committed to without exceptions.

Baby Steps

Working through resistance feels tedious. But it is those small steps in the direction your soul is calling you which begins to wear away the resistance. Each baby step in that direction is like cleaning away the dirt in a stained garment (or the product in a makeup sponge). Keep kneading away at it, rinsing, repeating, and soon enough it has returned to it’s original state. In the same way, we remove the obstacle of resistance by chipping away at it now, from right where we are, and not waiting for them to magically disappear.

What emotions are you afraid of feeling?
This is a significant inquiry when feelings of resistance that come from the small self are dominating your experience. When you can’t seem to figure out why you are avoiding doing the thing you want to do, most likely it is not about the thing itself or your objective ability, but it is about the way you may be interpreting how it feels for you. The story based on the past experiences or future expectation. Check in with the story. And when you check in, you effectively give yourself the permission to check out of it, to no longer be taking actions (or avoiding them) motivated from a story that is running on fear.

Big Self v. small self

Small self runs on fears and tends to lean into those lower qualities of human nature (that we are all susceptible to). Big Self operates from the heart and is attracted to the higher qualities, expressions, and potentials of human nature.

The small self spins stories like it’s a political puppeteer, okay. It doesn’t care about the harm and damage it’s doing to you, or the greater impact it’s having on your life and your experience of reality. It is not original or generative, nor is it filtering your experience according to what is truly in alignment for your highest good and potential. It is only feeding you more of the same low-grade garbage you’ve already been consuming. (Yikes.)

The big self abides in the expansive spaciousness of being. Dramatic? No, this is actually the simple truth of your heart. It is infinite. It knows no bounds or limits, only the ones that you insist on believing in. And of course, if you are reading this it’s safe to say you occupy some limiting beliefs still, and those are the ones that render your experience of the small self.

Fortunately, the heart is gracious. You are not required to let go of all your limiting beliefs, or be totally enlightened in order to experience your true nature. All that is required is your interest and attention in being present. In that simple awareness, your true nature reveals itself.

How does this relate to moving through resistance, the energy of your heart, and (perhaps more importantly to you if you’re reading this) when engaged with the world? Well the more you spend time relinquishing your small self in favor of this bigger self, the more your overall energy and self-awareness raises. Greater levels of consciousness are revealed in you. And that inevitably lifts you to higher states, elevated emotions, and heart opening activations. It happens spontaneously and naturally as a consequence of this reversal of attention.

From lower qualities, you transcend to higher qualities and expressions by reigning in the senses and re-directing the mind. From lesser perceptions and experiences influenced by lesser quality energies … To expansive and clearer seeing of reality as it really is. All of this can only have the effect of positively influencing your life on the whole. Including your thoughts, feelings, perceptions, behaviors, and engagement with the world.

Virtues (the lost art)

I know we are all weary of virtue signaling, appearing to be good, or make ourselves look like better human beings than we actually are, and giving everyone the ick. But let’s not throw away the baby with the bathwater. (Which is an insane thing to say. Seriously, why do we say that?)

What I mean is, let’s not forget that virtues do in fact make you stronger in the heart, the spiritual heart, and are worthy of pursuing and embodying, regardless of what people think. They are a sign of Grace and connection to something higher. Because be honest, is it really your strength alone that gives you the patience to bear certain circumstances, situations, people …or is it not some supernatural force that gets you through it? Mhm. This is why virtues appear in many scriptures, religions, spirituality, and even elevated literature.

“The rarer action is in virtue than in vengeance.”
Shakespeare, The Tempest

In Shakespeare’s The Tempest, the main character Prospero has every opportunity to indulge in revenge, which perhaps would be a deeply satisfying yet temporary ‘reward’. Instead, as the story and events unfold, he chooses the virtue of forgiveness. Which perhaps satiates an even deeper yearning by fulfilling a higher quality desire, peace.

Patience, forgiveness, wisdom, kindness, devotion, these are all virtues. In philosophy there are the four cardinal virtues, namely prudence, fortitude, temperance, and justice (shoutout the Major Arcana and Thoth tarot).

The higher qualities we learned about earlier - integrity, authenticity, and freedom - are akin to the qualities of these spiritual and philosophical virtues. When embodied they transcend the lower quality of virtual signaling, for example, which is akin to vanity, and ascends to a higher level of expression. When embodied, virtues are akin to Grace, a sign of the presence of the Divine, and one’s genuine attraction to It.

If, with mindfulness’ rope,
the elephant of mind is tethered all around,
our fears will come to nothing,
every virtue will drop into our hands.
Shantideva

Horror Vacui

Aristotle positioned the concept of horror vacui, or nature abhors a vacuum. It means that in the realm of nature, empty spaces resist the state of emptiness. If there is a void, nature and it’s forces will rush to fill it.

However, in our case, the metaphorical vacuum represents opportunity. Sometimes we don’t resist action, but in the constant desire or restlessness to take action as a form of control, we are resisting something else. This means then that sometimes the best thing to do is in fact nothing.

May these words speak directly to the heart of your bigger capital S, Self, and may whatever benefit they bring be for the highest good of all beings everywhere.

I am sending you so much love. Until next time.

Star

To begin, we must reconcile with the fact that as human beings, we all have needs. And those needs must be met. Without the acknowledgment of our needs, whether they be emotional, spiritual, or material, how will we ever proceed to fulfill them? Without fulfillment of our basic and even more complex needs, how will we understand the gravity of this signature called self-worth?

(NGC 4248, captured by the Hubble Space Telescope)

In psychology, healthy self-worth may be defined as a person’s overall evaluation of their own value as a human being, independent of any single achievement, failure, role, or external circumstance.

Emotional Needs

According to self-determination theory (SDT), there are a set of universal needs that must be met in order to engage in life as a fully functioning human being. These three universal needs are autonomy, competence, and relatedness. We can break these down further into more complex threads such as intimacy, community, attention, communication, belonging, meaning, growth, creativity, self-expression, etc.

There is also the component of one’s personal identity that plays a role in how these universal needs are fulfilled and satisfied. It reminds me of how Ram Dass says, you can’t get rid of the ego until and unless you have one, or something like this. This speaks to meeting the need of being an autonomous person with agency, and with a healthy and integrated sense of self.

“You have to become somebody before you become nothing.”
Ram Dass

Emotional Fulfillment

It is your work to heal, integrate, and eventually embody an identity that serves your natural state of being. Until of course, this too can be transcended. But until that time, it serves you and those around you to have a healthy sense of self in tact (bonus if you are aware of your Divine nature beyond the confines of a personal identity).

We all have an ego and that ego can either serve your highest qualities, sense of self, and well-being, or it can be in conflict to it, causing damage + harm to self and others. The work then is to attain greater and greater levels of self-awareness. That is only done through the honest looking at ones reality as it is, accepting it to be a mirror reflection of one’s current organization of (or lack of) their inner world and psychological landscape.

Once your current experience of reality is accepted to be a mirror of the inner workings of your mind and identity, you can begin to heal, integrate and cultivate an inner world that is in service to that natural state of being. The natural state of being is one that transcends the identity itself.

Stay with me… we are really speaking of the I AM (not, ‘I am Star’, or ‘I am a woman’, but just I, consciousness, AM) when we speak of the natural state of being.

So to cultivate a healthy sense of self that is in service to your natural state, would imply the familiarity with that natural state. And to allow inner truths to arise from that state, rather than allowing past experiences alone to be the definitive source of ones identity, understanding of self, and the meanings assigned to and associated with ones experiences.

“What is here without arriving?”
Moojiji

Practical tools for emotional fulfillment are acceptance, intention, and aligned action. We must first accept our current state of being and experience of reality. Then, we can set the clear intention to change that state of unfulfilled needs. Now, we are primed to take aligned actions in the direction of fulfillment.

For example, if you have an emotional need of intimacy, which is a thread of relatedness, communication, and even autonomy and competence, you must identify that there is in fact a lack of this need being met in your current experience of reality. From there, you may set the clear intentions to experience fulfillment in this area. Then, set the course of aligned actions for meeting this need.

You may notice, as we just unpacked a little bit here, that emotional needs seem to interconnect with each other. This goes beyond the hierarchical view (like Maslow’s pyramid) of prioritizing one need over another, when seen in the lens of their shared value as they contribute to an overall sense of fulfillment and well-being.

Run an emotional-based ‘Needs Audit’ on yourself

To help gauge where you are and the current standing of how well your emotional needs are being met, it helps to run an audit to see clearly what is and isn’t being acknowledged in you.

Here is simple self-guided audit provided by Human Givens Institute: emotional-based needs audit

Spiritual Qualities

It’s a bit of a contradiction to speak of something like ‘spiritual needs’. It is better to understand them as qualities; higher qualities which (in their fullest and highest expression) do not resonate nor do they operate in the realm of duality, and thus are outside the scope of personal needs. These higher qualities can be experienced in gradients of intensity and do contribute to a greater sense of well-being and fulfillment. Since however, if you are reading this, you do reside in the realm of duality, it’s important to consider and ultimately understand these qualities as states of being that are essential for spiritual development, wherever you currently may be on the scale of consciousness.

(Map of Consciousness developed by Dr. David R. Hawkins)

—

Here are a few fundamental spiritual qualities that feel important to consider:

Love

Inner Peace

Freedom

Transcendence

Intuition

Intention

Empathy

Universality

Knowledge of Self

Compassion

Forgiveness

Bliss

These states correlate to higher qualities of consciousness, and they do not work the same as emotional needs. That is, to fulfill them requires a different set of skills and levels of understanding. In my experience (which is only a limited portion of understanding), these skills develop over time and in layers as one progresses spiritually. It is an ongoing process that only requires the earnestness of the spiritual seeker, so to speak.

Honesty, humility, earnest, discipline, reverence, simplicity … these are like the master keys which unlock levels of embodiment beyond intellectual understanding. Embodiment is akin to fulfillment. Understanding this is wisdom.

“Spiritual work is it’s own reward.”
Dr. David R. Hawkins

Signatures of Self Worth

I’m curious if there are universal signatures of self worth that we could all assume and easily identify, just as there are with the universal emotional needs positioned by Self-Determination Theory. Keeping these universal needs and higher spiritual qualities in mind, here are a few signatures of this frequency called self worth that resonate with my experiences.

For example, the agency to skillfully communicate how one feels in any situation is a signature of self worth. The art of observing the thinking mind without fusing ones identity with it, is another. Having clear boundaries, living according to universal principles, intending on and living in alignment with greatness and service, are all yet more embodied signatures of self worth, in my opinion.

What qualities resonate with you as specific signatures of self worth? Share with us in the comments (this would be an interesting experiment to see if any similar patterns emerge among the varying responses).

Run an ‘Spiritual Qualities Audit’ on yourself

This assessment, like the previous one (emotional-based needs audit), is really a tool for bringing the light of awareness into this dimension of your consciousness. It will help you see clearly what is the gap between your current self-image (your beliefs) and your behaviors when these qualities are put to the test in your lived experience. It is a helpful tool when one is interested in closing the gap between their intentions and their behaviors, creating a more cohesive sense of self and alignment in daily living, including alignment in thoughts, feelings, and actions.

Note that this assessment is asking you to identify the highest level of response that you consistently embody in a real-life situation. And that there are no right or wrong answers, but the answers you provide honestly will give you a clearer picture of where you currently reside energetically. When designing this assessment, it was my intention to provide answers in the style of stages of response that naturally progress from reactive to increasingly integrated. Meaning, your answers may change as you develop in consciousness.

Spiritual Qualities Self-Assessment

Identity + Perceptions

In the signature of self worth is where the signal of your value is very strong and amplified. A being of strong self worth does not attach their value (and therefore, their meanings) to how others perceive them.

You can take a look at your own life and see the reflection of the value you’ve given to particular meanings you have decided upon and hold as truth for you. For example, if you are deriving meaning and self-worth from the approval and validation of others, you may find more value in spending your time externally focused than you would value spending time with yourself. In contrast, if you derive meaning and fulfillment from knowing more of your true self or the nature of reality, you probably find greater value in lingering in your own presence than being swept up in the coming and going of externalized attention, either seeking or consuming. Of course, it’s not all black and white. These are only general examples and we can take both much further and with greater nuance, but you get the idea. Here we are speaking of the psychological need of autonomy.

In the absence of autonomy, one may engage in the activity to please others, get approval, avoid feelings of guilt, or other controlled forms of regulation.
(Haerens et al. 2015; Markland and Tobin 2010).

Nuances In Identity

To be clear, research consistently distinguishes self-worth from:

Confidence – belief in your abilities.

Self-efficacy – belief that you can accomplish specific tasks.

Social status – how others rank or evaluate you.

A person can have high confidence in a skill (for example, public speaking) while still having low self-worth if they believe their value depends on performing well. The antidote here would be to start working with that limiting belief around performance as a measure of worthiness, for better or for worse. For example, this might look like getting very clear on what are your motivations behind public speaking (the action taken), and when it’s time to, be completely open to surrendering outcomes to the highest good (i.e. how the public perceived your performance). True surrender leaves no room for preconceptions or expectations. Ironically, when you remove the link between expectations or results as a measurement of your self-worth, your work (and your sense of self-worth) may improve. Why? Because your intention is more pure when it’s not conflated solely with personal gain. Only speaking hypothetically, of course.

When working to improve self-worth in the realm of identity, one of the biggest takeaways I’ve learned is actually the removal of things rather than adding more to feel better about myself. What do I mean by ‘things’? Ideas, concepts, images and ideals, definitions and meanings that were never truly original to who I am. Removal of all the false things which distort my experience and create the illusion of something wrong with me, something fundamentally lacking. In the removal of these false modifications of mind, there is the reemergence of wisdom, truth, inner-knowing, inner-peace, and innate worthiness.

World Building

Build a world you love to live in, contribute to, be apart of, and never feel separate from. This is the hero’s journey even more romanticized. It is the journey one takes to discover what they are made of as they face their biggest demons and overcome their most challenging obstacles. The payoff of the hero’s journey is the skill of world building. Of creating in the style that speaks directly from your heart, and grounding that hearts vision into the world, anchoring in a legacy of triumph over the lower nature and rediscovery of self.

A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.
‘The Hero With A Thousand Faces’, Joesph Campbell

May these words move you into aligned action, to go and create a world you love to live in. You start right where you are (don’t wait), and just as I have outlined for you here. And will do it again in a super easy list:

⟡ identify your needs and acknowledge the gaps of their fulfillments

⟡ set clear intentions to allow them to be fulfilled

⟡ remove the false ideas and perceptions which distort your view of yourself and of reality

⟡ subscribe to Star Cor’s substack

⟡ and finally, begin gathering new evidence in the direction of more well-being, more alignment, and more flourishing expressions of self in service to ones fellow humans and all life.

All my love,

Star

cortisol is a hormone released due to stress. it helps the body manage the reaction to a perceived threat in the environment. key word is perceived. because in this discussion we will be looking at stress through the lens of perception, how it colors our perception, how it may shape our physiology (the way we look + feel physically), and without the clear understanding of this, how it can have one living in a perpetual state of un-alignment (a state akin to sin … more on that later).

(art by Coleen Real)

i am fascinated by how much my own body changes from a day to day basis. even within a single day, i recognize how one small choice (like choosing the matcha latte over an espresso latte … or the choice to respond rather than react to an annoying, unexpected encounter in life … it seems small, yet there is a big impact) has the power to completely alter my state physiologically and how that then ripples into everything else … physically, emotionally, energetically, even psychically + spiritually. and from perpetual observation, i’ve come to the realization that most of these changes cycle around the amount of stress (and thus, stress hormones) influencing my elemental make up (yes, even emotionally + psychically these varying effects are felt, because everything is interconnected). this goes for better or for worse. i must admit with gratitude, recently and mostly, it is for the better. meaning i am not very stressed. i have become quite adept at self-regulation (including a healthy obsession with yoga, naturally) … because at some point in my life i came to the stark realization that if i didn’t learn this skill of regulating my own body + mind + energy (and stress), i would be totally consumed by the overwhelming influx of subtle energy and input these senses and this nervous system seems to invariably receive from all directions. and i’m sure if you’re reading this, on some level you can agree and relate … of course, in your own way via your unique life experiences.

i used to consider myself a ‘highly sensitive person’ but now i understand that was simply the consequence of living highly attuned to and in anticipation for the perception of threats in my environment. i.e. a state of anticipating stress. what i now call my gifts (by means of reframing), are perhaps what a psychologist might call a consequence (at least partially) of trauma. although that’s still not the full picture or truth either. there has also been the clear intention and devotion to opening my heart, body + mind to the divine. (also, let’s not suck all the fun and mystery and magic out of these gifts + abilities, please.)

to put simply, we can logically observe the fact that when in a state of lower emotions caused by stress, our energy is spent managing that stress, anticipating more stress, or focusing in on potential upcoming threats to our sense of well-being. everything we do is rooted in a desire for control. and that desire for control that keeps us operating from lower levels of emotions, is also signaling to our subconscious mind the message ‘i have no control’. effectively rendering one totally ineffective in producing change in any measurable way. however, this is not a ‘stress’ problem, it’s a state problem. in that state of being (called survival), you feel a total lack of control and therefore try as hard as possible to control everything in your environment to the extent you believe you can. but without ever reaching the fulfillment of that initial desire for control (and deeper, safety) in the first place. your attention + energy is never with you, it’s always anticipating the next moment.

this is an extreme example, but i know we all have experienced it at varying degrees and gradients of intensity at some point or another. in either case, it paints the picture well of how stress + the states of being stress typically induces are associated with particularly lower levels of emotions … such as anxiety, controlling tendencies, fear, worry … it’s important to come to the distinction then that these lower levels of emotions exist on lower levels of consciousness, and that ironically, they spend the most amount of our vital life force energy to sustain. by their nature, they feed on the cycle of stress induction + sustainment … these states perpetuate more stress, and at such an intensity of energetic spending, one who is caught in such a cycle is left without the energy to do much else but maintain this paradigm. until of course, one chooses to lose interest in it … and let go of control.

this is why i say it’s not a stress problem, it’s the state in which that kind of vicious cycle has any possibility of existing in that is the real problem. and if one were to shift their state, the stress would disappear, without the need for intervening through treating symptoms (which is only a temporary fix).

take your power back

in the instance stress (+ it’s hormones) enters your body, it can induce changes to your state, perception, attitude, and where you place your attention. because if the moment calls for it, your body is programmed to be ready for worst case scenario. this is all out of love of course, in order that you might survive that bear attack or that rival tribe … but today, worst case scenario is not so likely nor as viscerally life-threatening as it was 10,000 years ago.

prolonged negative stress changes the way you feel and these changes reflect in your body. your muscles begin to habitually tighten as a mirror to your tightened mind + narrowing perspective. you hold on to tension in the face and neck and shoulders, as if you are claiming it as yours. in other words, negative stress becomes visible. you wear it like a garment.

states of anxiety, worry, anger, or a spiral of negative thinking, can be read all over your face, in your body language, in the way you speak, the thoughts that arise for you are even of the same quality of that negative state (because like attracts like). so when you are feeling anxious, you tend to think in similar ways + of a similar quality to that feeling. without the awareness of this happening, you might even begin to believe yourself to be an anxious person, and feel helpless to change it. the good news is that all these are just thoughts. even the anxiety stored in your body as tension is just an after effect of a thought ... or perhaps a bundle of thoughts ... thoughts gone on unchecked, unnoticed, and accepted as true for you.

awareness is always the antidote. for starters, to be aware of the way your mind works is already a big leap in the direction of beginning to create the necessary space between you and the thoughts that arise. from there, with practice in watching the thoughts, observing them rather than being fused with them, you give yourself the power back in this dynamic we call your experience. your experience of reality has everything to do with the state you are in, and your state has everything to do with the quality of thoughts you go on thinking about either habitually, or intentionally.

a body scan excercise:

make some time in your day to notice how your body reacts to your day to day happenings.

gently move your awareness through your entire body + being, with the intention to bring relaxation to every particle and corner and crevice.

. . . notice where you seem to hold the most tension (where it is most obviously held in your body).

. . . notice where tension seems to hide in the body (where it is least obviously held in the body, like the small muscles around the eyes, or the temples). and yet with a little awareness, even in a so-called relaxed state, there tension remains, lingering …

try then to mentally intend to release all tensions once again. this time, breathe into those places that seem to cling on to tension more than others … breathe deeply until you can feel the air and the earth taking all these tensions from you. feel the stress leaving your body with every exhale and returning to all that is … imagine the stress is leaving your body and returning to mother earth … or returning back into the unmanifest … and being transmuted into unconditional love.

best case scenario

my favorite hill to die on is believing in the best case scenario. embracing the unknown with the attitude of … what if everything does work out for the best + highest good … well that changes everything. to be steady in an attitude of optimism and enthusiasm for life is not the same as forcing yourself to think positively when your feelings say something else. to embrace an attitude of gratitude, possibility, and believing in yourself will definitely lead one into shadow work … getting real comfortable looking at ones limiting beliefs in order to transcend them, and the inevitable sting of ego death after death … you must become comfortable with dying to past versions of yourself. that is the only way to grow in the direction of love.

it takes guts to be happy (when happiness feels so unfamiliar to who you’ve been being). it takes guts to release control enough to be free from the expectations of the past + the associated ideas around those expectations which hide happiness. and yet … i would be remiss if i didn’t let you in on the secret that it is actually quite easy to be happy. that is, your natural state of being is inherently happy. inherently at ease, in flow, and moving with the current of life rather than resisting it.

enter a mood and watch the thoughts that come to you while there.
(Neville Goddard)

have you ever found yourself in a really good mood and then noticed that in some way unknown to you, that problem you were stumped on hours earlier no longer seemed like a problem to be solved? or magically, the solution appeared to you in this more elevated mood? or even more mysterious, someone or something else intervened on your behalf to resolve it. this is the quality of an elevated state of being, and that quality is what is really meant when speaking of shifting your state.

before, in the lower state, you were stuck thinking like somebody with a problem to solve and therefore all your ideas couldn’t possibly be the solution. now, in the higher state, the solution presents itself to you without you needing to even look. in fact it’s the act of taking your attention off the problem, the perceived threat or stress, and instead … focusing all of your energy + attention on returning to your natural state. you find that state by letting go of control, regulating the nervous system (even just a little bit with steady breathing), reducing inputs + outputs, and totally surrendering back into the present moment.

a visualization exercise:

for the next few moments, imagine a person who is totally blissed out + happy ... or in any other elevated emotional state of the quality we have been talking about so far. pick one. then see such a person in your mind, use your imagination to fill out their features and qualities.

if you would like some direction to begin … instantly what comes to my mind is a yogi in lotus pose, totally serene and relaxed in their body … with soft, smiling eyes … an innocent smile and infectious giggle (also zero stress wrinkles to be found …). their entire body feels welcoming to you, because it’s so welcoming to them. they aren’t holding tension anywhere. they aren’t resisting anything about themselves, or you. you can feel it radiating off of them, their inner peace feels more real to you than their fleshly body before your eyes.

a dramatic example, i know. but even just to imagine this quality of being in another just put you into a totally different atmosphere internally, did it not?

now imagine yourself serene. washed with inner peace. warm with love. glowing with happiness. bubbling with laughter. give yourself permission to imagine yourself in these qualities, or whatever qualities come most naturally to you. feel yourself embodying them. see yourself in these ways. ask your imagination to bring to you the clearest, most beautiful images and feelings (and with practice, it will). <3

temptation

speaking of reframing (from earlier), i want you to redefine sin as anything that you do from a lower level emotion, or lower state of consciousness. this means: anything that takes you out of alignment and harmony with your natural state, your magnetic heart essence, with what feels good + right + true for you, is in effect sin.

another way you can begin to understand these lower states is that they are where your limiting beliefs exist and operate from. therefore limiting beliefs are also akin to sin. imagine for a moment that this is a fundamental truth of the universe, and that it is your one and only job as a human being to never forget your infinite, unlimited nature as a child of god. to embrace this understanding renders the biblical narrative around resisting sin in a new light and one that makes a hell of a lot more sense.

⟡ sin = living out of alignment with your truth as an infinite being

⟡ also sin = operating from the level of consciousness where limiting beliefs exist

at the inner most core of trusting yourself is a life lived in alignment with love.

Self-love, my liege, is not so vile a sin, as self-neglecting. (Shakespeare, Henry V)

why temptation when we speak of sin? because that is the very nature of the ‘sin’ … to tempt you into a lower nature, a lower level of being, a lower state of consciousness. these lower states are what is meant by living out of alignment, and in particular here, out of alignment with love.

why are we talking about sin + temptation in this light of trusting yourself + living in alignment? because just think about this logically for a moment. imagine you are living a life you totally love. now reverse engineer it … how did you get to that point? in every case if you are living a life that feels good for you to live in … it’s because you chose to live in accordance with what is your truth. on some level, you decided to honor yourself, you made the decision to let go of the things which take you away from your center, your true self. you began to do the things that felt true to you, aligned for you, purposeful to you. we can take this example even further … and say this inner truth that now guides you could include the aligned intention to be of service to others with your work. and that truth could have been the distinguishing choice that took you from one career you hated (while living unaligned and separated from your inner truth) to the one that you now love and are excited to get out of bed for in the morning (living from an aligned place in and as your very heart). this is just one example. the point that is important for you to know, is the choice is always here for you to make in the direction of alignment. and that honoring your truth is the greatest act of love you will do for yourself and for others. and i promise you, if you are truly accessing your inner truth, it will inevitably be of the same fabric and quality and make up of love itself. love, alive in your heart, makes it very easy to live in alignment this way.

as a general rule of thumb to raise your energy and as an antidote to sin or un-alignment … ask yourself this question: what would love do?

then listen for that truest truth that arises. you will know it by the feeling it brings you, and as you actually heed the wisdom and move in that direction. if it is true, you will naturally gravitate back into center, into harmony with what feels like more love. in contrast, to truly know if it is false, if it is just your ego playing games with you, you must have discernment. to access discernment requires an earnest interest in living in alignment with love + truth … and if not … that ego will most definitely have it’s way with you. leading you in circles until you remember your power again.

repetition + the art of trusting yourself

think about mantra for a moment. japa mala (a yogic practice) is the repetition of a particular mantra 108 times with the use of mala beads to help anchor one’s concentration. japa (the repetition of a mantra) is used as an aid in yoga for developing concentration, as over and over you go on repeating the words of the mantra (which is typically a yogic phrase given by a guru or teacher). the point isn’t only to say the words mechanically, in fact you don’t even have to say the words at all if internally they are felt. this is the essence of japa. the aim of the practice is to reach that state where the words you are reciting are sinking deep into your mind … your heart … and shifting your state and energy as a result.

in the beginning however, one says the words aloud. it aids in the process as you hear yourself say the words, and gradually the energy + meaning of the mantra begins to reveal itself to you. you first start off gross (speaking the words aloud) and naturally progress to a more subtler form of the practice (internally or mentally reciting the words from the space of your heart).

from the moment you repeat the mantra for the very first time to the very last 108th repetition in a single session, you may already notice quite a shift in your voice. just from repeating the same words (even without any true understanding of the knowledge imbedded in the words), the sheer act of repetition has the effect of softening your state into a more natural expression.

i like this as an analogy for the practice of trusting oneself. at first you begin very crude in the experimentation of following through with your intuition. choosing yourself feels awkward and uncomfortable, only because out of habit the opposite has been your comfort zone … that is, not choosing + trusting yourself.

all this to say … keep going. give your efforts a real chance to bear fruits. practice is part of the journey of rediscovering your natural state, elevating your state + mood, and ultimately transforming your life. in fact in the process is exactly where we learn how to deeply trust ourselves + fall in love with life again.

may these words open something beautiful in your heart + serve your best case scenario ♡ ⋆˙⟡

with love,

Star <3

your mind thinks while your heart knows. it just knows things, things that your conscious mind could never come up with on its own. why is that? your conscious mind is limited only to your past experiences. but when you are activated in your heart … which is the seat of your intuitional self … your conscious thinking mind begins to synchronize with that activated heart center. through relaxed and alert attention there, you begin to tune into the subconscious mind (also the collective or universal mind). you have infinitely more information available to you in that state of consciousness, alert + awake in the heart, than when you restrict yourself to the confines of the conscious minds limitations.

this is particularly the case when it comes to entering a flow state, channeling, listening to intuitive guidance + heeding its wisdom, or in meditation. as an analogy that illustrates this quality of being (and one that is so satisfying to imagine) … heart activation is a state where the energy flows through you effortlessly and of it’s own accord. like oil pouring into oil, a continuous, uninterrupted, seamless + steady flow of energy. and an equal energetic exchange is implied by such an even, stable flow. that is the quality of your heart. and you will know what i mean if you’ve ever experienced some level of ‘flow state’, where you lost track of time, as you were so concentrated in the moment on what you were doing, it’s as if nothing else existed in that moment. that quality of flow is akin to your heart, to your intuitional self.

then there is the mind. quite a contrast to the unconcerned heart. as the mind thinks .. and thinks … and thinks some more … until all that magical energy that could be flow has been spent in these circling loops of thought. and mind you, thoughts that circle are not new or inspiring, nor are they alive with potential (as in the quality of an impulse that comes from the heart) … they are what i would call dead. thoughts from the limited self (conscious mind) are familiar, automatic, and played out stories from the past. your past experiences which left a particularly strong impression emotionally, imprint a sort of coloring on your perceptions that begin to filter through all other experiences from that lens of the past moment. through the function of perception + association together, your conscious mind tends to gravitate towards more of the same. this doesn’t require much of an introduction as i’m sure we are all too familiar with this nature of mind. however to know what is this mind and it’s nature is already a big leap in consciousness and already opening the door to dropping into that effortlessly alive + flowing heart center. it’s important to know what is the mind and how it operates so that we don’t lose ourselves to it, damping that heart essence, enslaved by the thinking mind + it’s looping in the past.

it’s not all bad. our conscious (or ego) mind is not here only as some error or obstacle in the way of actualizing human potential in consciousness. not at all. it serves many purposes in our lives and helps us to organize, strategize, and plan, bringing order to chaos (in the mundane realm of existence). however by our very nature, human beings are infinitely unique and have an ability to experience multidimensional expressions of self … so when we try to live solely by the conscious minds interpretation and understanding of reality (i.e. live solely based on our past experiences and therefore closed off to the greater portion of reality that exists unbound by one’s limited self-image and identity) we experience suffering .. heaviness, resistance, perhaps we even cause pain to ourselves or others. this is because by it’s nature, the conscious mind analyzes and judges, and has a hard time reconciling with change. yet, change is the forever constant. the heart knows this, and in it’s mysterious ways, itself is changeless in the face of all the temporary phenomena that swirl around it.

the conscious mind is limited to past experiences

there is more than one mind … there is the subconscious mind which is akin to the heart-mind … i also like to think of this as the intuitional self, including the collective / universal consciousness we all share.

there is the unconscious mind, which is like the store house of experiences, unconscious beliefs, and the information + data that you’ve collected through the senses (and the associated interpretation of that data made by your brain).

there is also the conscious mind which is akin to your self-image and identity, based upon your past experiences + beliefs. typically, limiting beliefs that are programmed by the unconscious mind in the subconscious mind, linger in the identity you assume yourself to be (expressed in what we would call your waking state as the conscious mind. or more plainly, your personal identity). those limiting beliefs filter through your perceptions and color your experience as that identity that you are right now assuming yourself to be. when we consciously recognize this is happening (i.e. that this is the nature of mind and not essential to who we are) … and we consciously drop out of the identity mind by dropping into the heart … we become a vessel for that intuitional self which is not exclusively experiencing those perceptions (of the assumed personal identity) because it is not limited to or bound by the past experiences that your identity claims as it’s own.

we can drop into the heart by noticing this nature of mind. another way is by slowing down our breathing … in both cases, the emphasis is on a shift of attention … we are shifting from being identified with the thinking mind, to noticing that there are these thoughts … noticing the breath and placing our awareness on the heart center. it sounds simple (because it is simple). you can try it right now and experience for yourself dropping your mind into your heart center … out of the thinking mind, into noticing the deepening of your own breath. you can imagine a light glowing in the center of your heart and that light is beginning to expand and become more radiant as you pay attention to it. linger here for a few moments.

this is because you are more available to new energy when your awareness is no longer fused with the identity and its ways of thinking + perceiving. you know the difference because you can feel the difference … mind was previously stuck in the past, while heart flows like water flowing into water.

science things

the hearts energy is directly influencing brains activity. and this connection between heart and brain/mind has a direct influence on how you think, feel, behave, and perceive. recent studies show that each heartbeat creates measurable effects in the brain through mechanosensory pathways.

from wiki: Mechanosensation is the transduction of mechanical stimuli into neural signals. Mechanosensation provides the basis for the senses of light, touch, hearing, proprioception, and pain.

it’s as if there is an inner terrain that operates much like the way our external reality’s stimuli entrains our senses. only this inner sensory landscape is entrained by the inner atmosphere of the body and its interrelated systems. and in particular here … the heart, the brain, (and the subtler) mind energy.

the brain is continuously receiving information from the heart. researchers are finding that heartbeat rhythms and signals influence perception, attention, emotional processing, and self-awareness (Nature Journal). heart rhythms appear to influence cognitive performance, and heart-rate variability contains information about mental activity itself.

to put it all together practically:

• attention + awareness effects the hearts energy + signal

• your breathing pattern ripples out and influences heart + brain/mind … including cognitive functioning, mental clarity, and emotional processing (for better or for worse)

• brain and heart function as a connected, integral system rather than separate systems

in opening to the science behind these inner processes + connections (which can be easily intuited into with a little awareness on them) … we begin to reconsider our understanding of reality on a fundamental level. we open to new perspectives that forever change the way we perceive ourselves and reality itself. this inevitably leads to a new model of understanding reality.

what is this new model? it is recognizing there are intrinsic connections that exist on unseen levels within the information, patterns and rhythms of our physical body. more specifically in this context, recognizing the pattern that there exists a continuous feedback loop + flow of information and communication between heart and mind. taking it further still … this relationship directly influences our physiology (our state) as well as the potential to tap into the unseen elements of our psychological make up + identity, with an expanded bandwidth for awareness.

what do i mean by an expanded bandwidth for awareness? that connection (heart + mind) can be experienced at varying gradients of clarity and coherence. much unlike the old model previously held, which was plainly unaware of the connection on a conscious level. through repeated practice + experimentation of placing our awareness on the heart center and increasing its energy, we may experience the variations of gradients + synchronization of each new connection established. to put practically, it feels as if your entire body and being (seen + unseen) is stabilizing into your hearts frequency and energy more and more and more.

your heart is a magnet

literally. how cool is that? you are literally a magnet. and when your heart + brain are synchronized, your magnetic energy potential is supercharged.

key word is stronger, meaning greater in strength of signal. and when the two (heart + brain) become synchronized and coherent, their energies become concentrated. this concentration of energy influences and amplifies the signal of the hearts electromagnetic field. with the power of directed attention (influenced by intention) and one’s vital energy (steady breath + presence), one has harnessed the ability to change their state of consciousness … by literally charging their electromagnetic field with the energy of that desired + intended state. when that intention and energy is directed towards a higher state of consciousness, and the signal is extremely clear, this is magnetism. with repeated practice in shifting one’s attention like this, one goes from intending … to being.

i just love knowing this … don’t you? i intend to be fully charged with presence, love, silly joy, simple pleasure, playful awe, happy, freedom, appreciation and gratitude … as much as possible. for these are higher states of consciousness. in essence to be magnetized to these states is to transcend + exit the lower levels of thinking and perceiving which keep one stuck in the past, or living in survival. the essence of this heart + mind synchronization is in fact magnetism. the choice is yours, the higher alternative is always here and available to you. you can choose to be stuck in the past and out of synch, therefore out of alignment, unaware, living from a lower level than what you are capable of as an intelligent human being … also an infinite being with infinite potential …

or you can choose to recognize who you are as an infinite soul, and by doing so, open to the possibility of choosing alignment + magnetism. and you find it by tuning up your own energy in these simple, subtle ways. by being aware of the power within you to direct your energy + attention … to consciously choose to tune into a higher energy of consciousness, a new potential, and actualize that potential by assuming the state in resonance with it. and, by the power of magnetism, you draw to you the associated thoughts + feelings in correspondence with it. you become it by being it. you be it by choosing it. you choose it by recognizing the choice already and always exists. you actually make the choice when you finally lose interest in being enslaved by the past + old model of reality.

a living prayer

as a final note … and a suggestion for an intention if you’d like one … intend to let the mind be in service to the heart. let the mind prostrate to the hearts energy regularly, as part of your daily existence. make it known to your mind that your heart is leading the way now. surrender to it again and again and again ... by entering into a relaxed state, focusing all your energy on the heart, breathing deeply, and trusting in the intuitional self that is always here for you, waiting for you to fall in love with it. as you fall in love with it, it will reveal it’s unconditional + infinite love for you in it’s unique and mysterious ways, ways that only you can know .. ways which speak directly to your heart.

if you’d like to explore your own intuitional self + start living from your heart as a way of being … intuitive magnetism is a process of teaching yourself how to change your energy by accessing your magnetic hearts essence. from this state, you discover what it is to inquire into limiting beliefs from a place that is unbound by them. you can use intuitive magnetism to literally become a magnet to your desires by becoming the frequency + energy of them. this is a deep work and i know it has the potential to transform your life on a foundational level. for those who are ready to go deeper into personal transformation, i created my Intuitive Magnetism Comprehensive Guidebook just for you. it includes several self-guided inquiry sessions and magnetism exercises + practices so you can begin tuning into your own intuition and discover the answers you truly seek right now.

<3 Star

what differentiates a ‘state of consciousness’ from any old mood or emotion …

like the candle, which is at first unlit and then by the miracle that is fire becomes lit, it is shifting from one frequency of energy to another. in both states, the candle is still the candle, it’s still the same consciousness … however that consciousness is in a much different energy vibration when it is lit compared to when it is not. it literally becomes turned on, alivened, activated … it’s elemental makeup begins to shift as it’s shape is rendered mutable via it’s activated state … and in this state, it brings a light to the world, it brings warmth, aesthetic, sentiment … and also we all know that old saying that it only takes one single flame to light innumerably more flames. such is the power of consciousness when in an activated state and aware of it’s inner light source.

technically speaking … we can define a state of consciousness as: the overall quality of your thinking, feeling, perceiving, and experiencing of reality.

it is not simply what you think about something. it’s the feeling tones which occupies your beingness and the colors of your perception that defines your state. it is the entire internal atmosphere you are operating from.

examples of states at varying frequencies:

• anxiety is a state of consciousness.

• deep gratitude is a state of consciousness.

• confidence is a state of consciousness.

• feeling fulfilled and secure is a state of consciousness.

• creative flow is a state of consciousness.

• survival mode is a state of consciousness.

• being in love with life is a state of consciousness.

• love itself is a state of consciousness.

for instance:

• “i want to be loved” is one state.

• “i am deeply loved and chosen” is another (also higher) state.

the idea is that states organize thought, emotion, perception, behavior, and even determines the potentials and possibilities you notice. our goal is to raise our state to one which is in correspondence with the desired, higher state, and which is in resonance with the experience of reality that you claim is for you + aligned with your highest potential.

correspondence = thoughts, feelings, actions, + perceptions that are in correspondence with a state.

resonance = harmonic alignment, co-operation, + flow with the universal laws according to that particular state of consciousness + it’s associated correspondences.

out of the past + into the future

now you know what is a state of consciousness and the importance of elevating your state in a direction that is in correspondence with the kind of emotions and experiences you want to have more of (this is the ‘desired, higher state’).

open. receptive. trusting. flowing. more interested in that elevated state + the corresponding thoughts, feelings, and actions which keep you in alignment + harmony with it … than you are interested in being stuck in the past ways of thinking, feeling, behaving, and perceiving any longer. now how do we do this? one way is through something i’m calling Intuitive Magnetism.

what is intuitive magnetism

Intuitive Magnetism is the art of starting where you are to become a magnet to a new + higher state of consciousness. it’s shifting your attention, focus + emotional state by process of listening to your intuitive guidance until noticing what is in correspondence with that desired, higher state becomes more and more obvious to you.

remember, correspondence refers to those thoughts, feelings, + perceptions which are corresponding to a particular state. for example, in a state of deep gratitude the thoughts would not be something like “this isn’t good enough” or some other feeling of complaint or disappointment. rather, it would be an active listening for and therefore noticing the good and the beautiful. your thoughts might be something like “this is wonderful!” or, “what a blessing this is”, or, “wow, i am so lucky and blessed to have this experience.”

Intuitive Magnetism also happens in gradients … because it meets you where you are, always. that’s the sort of law to it. by definition (my own) intuition is this part of you that is literally always trying to meet you where you are to take you to that which you desire to be. and it meets you where you are with whatever language you are open enough to perceive of and receive. by language i mean the information, the data, the objects of your perception that it can use (and it knows exactly what to use) to get your attention. again, it’s a matter of are you listening? do you trust it? or are you letting the conscious mind decide prematurely the value of the information given, which is vastly limited compared to the universal intuition. all this to say, it may not always make sense logically why it is to be listened to + heeded, but if you do trust the intuition it will reveal itself to be always lovingly guiding you to that which you truly desire to be.

how to use intuitive magnetism + see results

right now today you can begin using this process and see the immediate effects it has on your state. on your mood. on your perceptions. you can go from feeling apathetic to appreciative and in awe of the simple things in life by starting to notice the magic and the mystery of life itself. by noticing the beauty in a flower or the presence of a tree. there are portals everywhere. you get the results by taking the time to notice them. in that act of taking the time, it is like a signal to say to your subconscious mind: “this matters.” and through that opening + re-directing of your attention and re-investing it in this way, it opens up a feedback loop of more of the same pathways + networks in your perceptions, of say, feeling joy in the mundane and finding pleasure in the ordinary. you can use intuitive magnetism to start working with any frequency, energy, emotion, or experience that you have decided you want to experience more of.

now of course, this can happen once and you can try to hold it like a memory. or you can truly be that one who feels the awe deeply, everywhere, in all these little things that make your life what it is. to be that one requires more practice in this new direction. you have to literally go through a process of learning and just like any learning that goes on in the brain, there is a laying down of the framework of neural networks and associated connections in thoughts, feelings and behaviors before we can see a serious shift in our perceptions which ultimately leads to the changing of your state of consciousness. this process calls for a rigor, repetition, and iteration in order to truly be that knowledge, instead of merely thinking of it as in a memory.

acceptance, along with suggestion, is the main language of the subconscious mind. so these emotionally charged sessions of your practice of journaling … which are really just your excuse to feel the emotions regularly, to train your thinking and feeling in a particular direction … these sessions begin to become associated with the charged emotions and through consistency this become natural to you. that is when the energy of acceptance opens the door to your subconscious mind, which now registers this as your new baseline frequency. from this new baseline, new levels of expansion in consciousness, possibility, and potential open instantaneously.

with each session you are literally re-wiring your brain to feel in new + expanded ways .. and through repetition, you are writing a new future for yourself. one with new perceptions, new emotions, and a new baseline of frequency that corresponds to the desired state you have claimed + committed to expressing more of. through that commitment of expression is the portal of experiencing more of it in your external reality.

the power + importance of resolve

resolve closes the door on indecision, being stuck in the past, and doubt. these three things can kill this entire process or at least stiffen it’s progress. but just as easily as they can kill it, they too can be killed. what do i mean … resolve is the antidote. the decision to move in the new + higher direction must be stronger than any previous decision to be identified as something limited or less than what you say you want to be, and know yourself to be as the infinite being you truly are.

i share a lot about my experience + commitment to working with gratitude, and that decision was one of the best decisions i’ve made. if you struggle to make a strong decision in the direction you know is best for you … it may be because of a ‘false motivator’ that is lingering in your reasoning or resolve. a secret i want to share with you is that it’s never about what you think you’re going to get out of it. i don’t practice gratitude to get more things to feel grateful for, that is just a natural consequence of the fulfillment of this deeper desire in me. i practice gratitude because i feel better when i do. i feel myself to be in alignment with my highest potential when operating at a higher frequency of gratitude and love, of seeing the best and the beautiful in more and more things, in more and more ways. love is always there for you. i do this work in order that i don’t forget that truth.

may this process of intuitive magnetism be of value + benefit to you. may it inspire you to find out more of that truth and more universal truths for yourself, in a way unique to you, through the gift that is your own intuitive guidance system.

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