Over these recent years of exploring spirituality, I have noticed several patterns of behavior.
Whenever I would take a weekend course, I found myself relaxing into this broad, warm space that transcended whatever I experienced in my day-to-day.
I would relish this connection with Soul, leaving behind my Everyday Ego. I would feel reminded of who I really am, and wonder why I kept forgetting. It was seamlessly joyous.
....and then I would come home. Reintegrating back into my day-to-day life would inevitably follow the same pattern.
The day I would return, I'd feel great. Light, free, and energized. Excited to bring my newfound understanding to my life. I would have a renewed resolve to meditate, do shamanic journeys, or employ the spiritual and personal lessons I had just learned.
The feeling would often stay with me for a day or two, then certainly wane. It wouldn't take long before I was fully back into my Ego self, essentially forgetting what I had just learned and experienced.
Some time would go by and I would remind myself (sometimes kindly, sometimes not) to practice what I had learned in said class. Sometimes I would dutifully return to those practices, and sometimes it would remain a good intention of mine, or another on a long pile of "shoulds."
Time would go by, and then I'd sign up for another class. Rinse, and repeat.
However, over time, the gaps of time between my recognition of myself as Soul would decrease. More and more, my connection with Spirit grew. It started to become a constant presence in my life.
Now that perspective is with me wherever I go.
It's not that I don't get lost in Ego... of course I do. I'm human. However, Spirit is always right there.
This is a powerful piece of Awareness. Spirit is always there. It never goes anywhere. We just forget to pay attention to it. All it takes is a shift in our perspective to see it.
Spirit never wanes. It also will never scold us for forgetting it. It is a place of boundless peace, of unconditional love and universal compassion. All we need to do is to pay attention to it, and remember that we are a part of it. We are always intimately and intrinsically connected to Spirit. We are Spirit.
Ego is the place of traps. Ego is sticky, and out of self-preservation it is scared for us to focus elsewhere. It is a great irony is that by staying stuck in Ego we are cutting ourselves off from the very freedom, love, and safety Ego longs for.
Some ways you can connect with Spirit:
1) Meditate - by being still, going within, we disengage from our minds. This practice is quite naturally one of connecting with our inner stillness, and that inner stillness IS the home of Spirit.
2) Be in nature - Nature is the planet's expression of Spirit. Surrounding yourself in it is a powerful reminder that it is always there. Whether it's going for a hike, sitting on the beach, or looking up at the stars, when we connect with Nature we get the visceral reminder that there are things bigger than us. Ego thinks it's only me, so connecting to the larger immediately puts it in perspective.
3) Do what nourishes your deepest Self - dance, sing, meditate, take a bath, savor a cup of tea. What does the core of you need and want? When we nourish ourselves, we are returning the focus of our energy within.
4) Be compassionate, to yourself and others - what at times is the most challenging on this list, when we are understanding and compassionate to ourselves and others, we align to the energy of Spirit. In the end, what our Egos need to heal is the energy of love and compassion. What better place for it to come from than within?!
Spirit is always there. Every day. It is only us who forget. Reconnect, remember, and find peace and freedom.
