Your truth. Your authenticity. Your acceptance and courage to be exactly who you are will set you free!
Light Us Up
Daily Moment of Awareness [10.27.2019]
Moments of awareness shared with you
Life is the experience. Of course, our choices influence the experience. How we perceive it affects the experience. How we feel about our life experience is on each of us to explore.
People so often misunderstand and ultimately, become jaded, about how much YOU determine what your life experience will be. The work, meditation, praying, positive thinking, law of attraction. vibration, visualizing, etc. are all means to discover and move through the life experience.
The great majority of us will go through the the end of a relationship. And all of us will witness the loss of a loved one. It’s not about avoiding such happenings or pretending they do not evoke strong emotions within us. It’s all about the choices we make to accept, to learn from, and to move through them. Those are the times when we can, very much so, affect, influence, shift, our life experience.
Feeling pain? What are you doing to heal? Feeling stuck? What are you doing to grow?
Fear Is Not A Validation
People hear what you say. People see what you do. But people do not experience your life experiences as you do.
Furthermore, we often dial down or even hide our truth. The deep, core experience dancing in our souls and warming our hearts. For as real as it feels to us, we still try to make sense of it. We question it and doubt it. There are so many reasons why we do this and it all points back to fear.
How much do you reveal in your moment to moment?
We tell people what we think they will accept. We show people what we think they will accept. We surrender to fear. We tell ourselves we have difficult choices to make, but what that really mean is we have tradeoffs to make. The tradeoff is our authenticity for someone else's acceptance. Why? Because we allow fear to be a validation for how we choose to live.
Fear is NOT a validation.
words on image: Michael Barata / image: Jez Timms
Questions
So busy. So distracted. So tired. So frustrated. So doubtful.
How can you see? How can you be? What should you see? Who should you be?
Where have you been? .
all words + words on image: Michael Barata / image: Jon Tyson
I Am Authentic
[I Am mini-series #1]
The chorus sings loud and clear, “Create your most authentic life!” I totally agree with nurturing people to be their true self. I also acknowledge the individuality and the unique journey of authenticity.
But first, you need to become aware of your authenticness - simply because you are you. There is nothing to create. You ARE authentic. No need to discover it, but instead, honor it. Ground yourself in the truth of your authenticity. The free flowing bliss of it. The challenging vulnerability of it. All of it.
YOU are AUTHENTIC.
all words by Michael Barata / image: NordWood Themes
Your Inner Journey
We ask for advice. We get judged. We look for signs. We take wrong turns. We heed others’ opinions. We ignore our own intuition.
Of course there are people in your life who can help you. That’s a beautiful thing. But that doesn’t mean you ignore what YOU can do for you. We are taught as children to heed, to obey, to get in line, to follow, to respect others. All of this leads to a dissolution of self. Is it any wonder why so many people don’t know much about themselves, even worse, scoff at the notion of going within to discover more about themselves AND life?
Your willingness and wonder about who you are can reveal your gifts, your talents, your passion, and yes, your strength. The journey within is lifelong. Along the way, we hit detours, obstacles, and even deadends. What do those things look like? Well, they could be family and friends, authority figures, failures, and traumatic experiences. However, as long as you have breath, the inner journey can continue.
If you’re looking for answers, for love, for direction, start within. What you discover inside of you will be YOUR truth rather than their suggestions.
words on image: Michael Barata / image: unknown
Empty Yourself
What are you holding onto?
When you empty yourself of grudges, hidden pain, unsaid words, and suppressed fears, something happens. You free yourself of emotional weight.
This requires you to be stripped down, incredibly vulnerable, and completely truthful with yourself and others. Why with others? Well, we often lose sight of who we are because we hide ourselves from others.
To be seen is to empty ourselves of all conditioning, of all “should be’s”, of all fears, of all self-doubt, of all reservations about what others may think or say or do. Relationship with ourselves is the starting point, but we need to overcome hiding that precious relationship when engaging in relationships with others.
Emptying yourself creates space for truth, healing, love, and nurturing healthy, authentic relationships.
words on image: Michael Barata / image: Beata Ratusniak
Patience To Heal
Life is filled with joy and pain. And when we are joyous, we don’t want it to end. But when we are hurt, we lack patience for the healing process. We are closed off to recognizing that healing can take on many forms and be an experience of much diversity. Healing can be transformative and restorative.
The not knowing is the challenge. When? How?
Healing can be transformative in that your whole life changes AND your pain subsides. But healing can be restorative in that you gain a deeper understanding of the situation or person you feel hurt by. Your lessons help you so that you can re-engage in a healthier, more grounded way.
Pain doesn’t always lead to loss or end. Healing can reveal the pain is resulting from misunderstanding. From that lesson, healing can better equip you with compassion, empathy, patience to listen.
Healing can lead to new beginnings.
words on image: Michael Barata / image: Ümit Bulut
Be Seen
Your truth is your voice.
How you express your beingness is a journey from within. Too often, we focus on being accepted rather than being authentic, real, and unfiltered.
Go all in with who you are. Your life is your playground for living out loud. Connect with your essence, nourish your soul, ground yourself in your truth, love yourself, and be grateful for being YOU.
Your life is NOT about being accepted. It’s about being seen.
words on image: Michael Barata / image: Aa Novo
What Are You Telling Yourself?
Are you aware of the dialogue you spin in your head?
Are you rehashing a painful, past experience?
Are you doubting yourself?
Are you replaying somebody’s harsh judgment of you?
Are you what if’ing yourself into an oblivion?
Are you judging others?
Are you amplifying your fears and piggybacking them with anger?
Are you aware you can change all of that?
words + words on image: Michael Barata / image: Henry Be
Your Worth
You know what is special about you.
Go. Reconnect. As often as you forget.
all words + words on image: Michael Barata / image: Jessie Bowser
Comfort Is Quicksand
Think about those mornings when every inch of your bed just hugs you? The sheets and blankets have created the perfect temperature, that you almost feel one with them. Your pillow is a soft cloud for your heavy mind.
What else is going here? That’s right. Your comfort is holding you back from beginning your day. Exercising. Meditating. Eating a heathy breakfast. Spending some meaningful time with someone - or even with yourself.
Comfort denies new experience. Comfort ignores creativity. Comfort stunts growth. Comfort delays learning. Comfort teams up with fear to stop you from: exploring, going further, looking more intently, being curious and courageous, and yes, they stop you from living divinely and loving deeply.
Comfort is best experienced as a flowing reminder that you are living. However, it can also be a stagnant stop.
words + words on image: Michael Barata / image: Lisa Fotios
Or Lie
So much is said about living authentically. Identifying your purpose. Being who you were meant to be. Acknowledging your vulnerability and choosing to live wholeheartedly. Honestly expressing yourself. Knowing and accepting yourself.
Essentially, if you’re not living your truth, you’re living a lie.
image: Joe Longo