Transforming Our Fear

It is impossible to live without fear. But how we choose to acknowledge fear reveals our true character. When fear arises, we are presented with a decision:

We can choose to allow the fear to consume us, sitting in the shame inevitably tied to it, or we can choose courage to face the fear. To be courageous does not mean we need to perform an extraordinary act of heroism. Courage simply means allowing ourselves to be vulnerable. Courage is telling your story, no matter what. It may feel daunting and uncomfortable, but being courageous enough to live your truth openly leads to a gateway of connection to the world around you.

The experience of connection is powerful. The opportunity to create change and fulfill a purpose resides within power. But fear often holds us back from reaching our fullest potentials as human beings. When we stop allowing fear to inhibit our way of living, that fear transforms into joy. All it takes is courage.

Joy is tethered to our soul and woven into every waking moment of our lives, but only if we choose to lead from this place. It is a spiritual way of living with gratitude. You can be grateful for the present moment and suddenly be overcome with feelings of fear that this joy will be ripped out of your being.

This is the nature of opposing forces. Fear is the opposite of joy. Joy is the opposite of fear. But joy and fear coexist within us all the time. One cannot exist without the other. There is no light without the dark. Have the courage to explore the shadows of fear, for gratitude resides in the rays of joy.

The Authentic Self

Authenticity can only be found in stillness. There is no noise, nothing to hide behind. There is just the self.

Stillness is often defined as the absence of movement. But is that really true? All particles in matter are moving, and moving rapidly. This vibration is happening a such a high speed that it becomes invisible to the naked eye, appearing as stillness. The same concept is true for human beings. When we are truly authentic, truly in stillness, there is the most movement within us.

In stillness, there is quiet. And when it is quiet, we hear everything. We are present. An irrepressible awareness over our senses comes to fruition in the quiet of stillness. In this state, the most vulnerable parts of the self are forced to escape. They creep around the noise and movement that once caged them inside. They continue to guide the authentic self into the spotlight, allowing the self to shed the external shell that once ossified its being.

When we are in complete stillness and silence, movement and noise become the first things we notice. But are we ever really experiencing stillness and silence if we are consistently growing into our authenticity?

The Ego vs. The Artist

The ego is an inevitable part of human nature. It is the voice inside our head that tells us when we are too much or too little, trying to keep us safe. But the ego never tells us we are just enough as we are. The ego constantly defines and redefines expectations that are impossible to reach.

So how do we know if we are enough? Will we ever be enough? The answers to these questions do not come from our ego. The answers reside in our presence in this moment in time right now. Because now is all that exists. The ego is our past and our future. It infiltrates our now, either reminding the present self of old experiences that no longer exists or preparing the present self for new experiences that also do not exist.

The ego is our way of measuring time whereas presence is the here and now. Time is merely a figment of our imagination. Because is anything really there without the present moment?