"It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing … I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself: if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul.”
Oriah Mountain Dreamer—from The Invitation
Many years ago a friend made a shocking and very radical change in her life. She suddenly left her husband and teenage children to take off for parts unknown in a metamorphic quest for her spiritual self.
Shockwaves reverberated for months as those who often preached universal acceptance and unconditional love suddenly found themselves outraged, bewildered and downright judgmental about this choice. There were accusations of thoughtless selfishness and rash impulsiveness. Many secretly hoped that great demise would befall this woman as the karmic law of cause-and-effect unfolded.
I watch these events and the personal dynamics involved with a serene awareness of the bigger picture. This woman's actions clearly push some buttons and what wasn’t readily apparent were the real issues at stake.
Whenever you have a strong reaction to the words or actions of another person, it is because it triggers something within your self that you do not consciously want to face. People act as mirrors for the benefit of our own self-development, reflecting back those parts of ourselves we cannot accept or acknowledge. Through objective observation of someone else we can see a clearer picture of our own flaws, inadequacies and issues. The trick is to become aware of this ‘gift’.
I admired and respected the courage and trust it took for this woman to leap from comfort, safety and security, into the mutable void of the unknown. I understood that a decision of this magnitude could not have been made lightly or suddenly, but simply at a time when opportunity was finally present. Most of all, I honoured the enormous courage that was required to risk hurting those she loved in order to be true to her own soul’s longing.
What I recognized and celebrated in this woman was a person who had the courage of her convictions and the integrity to follow the path her dreams. What others condemned and judged in her was that part of themselves they had traded for safety over the years. These were people who were stuck in their comfort zones. They had gotten caught up in the ‘busyness’ of life; taking care of the kids, earning an income. Their own profound dreams and longings were now all dead and buried away behind the safety and security of a mundane existence. They used life’s daily responsibilities as an excuse to avoid a bigger responsibility to the growth of their own souls.
In condemning her, what they were unconsciously endorsing was their own compromises in life. They hoped for her failure so they would never have to face the possibility of her success revealing that they had made cowardly choices and compromises in their own lives. This woman's soul quest was shining a light on the ‘what if’s’ and ‘what could have been’, and in doing so they had to face the deepest parts of themselves they were not honouring.
A couple of times in my life I have played it safe and compromised myself for the sake of belonging. But, eventually that old ache comes back and I learn, yet again, to be true to myself. Sometimes I have to be reminded that I am “an electric eel in a bowl full of goldfish.” My calling is to shatter people's perceptions, to open the door of society's consciousness to new realities. That doesn’t always make for popularity.
For many years I tried to deny my insights, playing it safe within the edge of conformity and conservatism. I was terrified at the loss of credibility, afraid of not belonging. But most of all I was reluctant to accept the responsibility it carried to be a ‘unicorn’. Instead, I used my awareness of subtle energies to become an outstanding artist, my sense of awe and wonder to create beauty, my revolutionary tendencies to become an innovative leader in my field of design.
But at some point it just wasn't enough anymore. I could not quiet the scratching behind the guardian door of my soul. The trade-off was sapping my vital energy and making me feel resentful. As St. Francis of Assisi once said “There it's no use walking anywhere to preach, unless our preaching is our walking.”
Those who are drawn to Enlightened Feelings are looking for certain answers. It's the law of attraction. You find us after you have silently asked a question or prayed for an answer.
I could have chosen a more mundane and socially conforming name, one that might have increased my popularity in the search engines and with medical professionals. But, it would not have been a reflection of who I am and what I have to say.
The name was carefully and intentionally chosen to provoke thought. ‘Enlightened’ Feelings is a double entendre. It does have some reference to ‘lightening up’ your emotional burdens and invoking more positive feelings.
But, it more directly points to becoming ‘enlightened’ emotionally by becoming aware of the message that your feelings are delivering to you—a light dawning. You become enlightened emotionally when you become brave enough to face your painful negative emotions honestly and openly, and hear what they are really telling you, when you have the courage and integrity to say how you really feel, despite how others might react. Emotional honesty is the only way to connect with your unrequited needs. There is no other way to dissolve your heart’s pain and connect meaningfully with others.
‘Enlightened’ feelings reveals a conscious awareness of a deeper, more important spiritual purpose to your emotions—a role that ensures you listen to your own needs and find a positive way to have those needs met in a way that benefits everyone. In the process of raising your vibration and your perspective of any situation, your heart and soul becomes healed, your relationships and sense of belonging deepen, and your life’s experiences achieve deeper meaning and a positive purpose. When you lose the ‘baggage’ you begin to align with your truest and highest self, and you become empowered. How can this be described any other way except ‘enlightened’ feelings?
Although it is clear that Enlightened Feelings thrives through symbiosis, I am ever humbled and grateful to my amazing loyal clients, many of whom have become treasured friends along the way. It is your meaningful questions, your personal quest for a better self that brings us all together. Illumination, healing and self-empowerment is the result. Thank you for allowing me to serve you, and to share your journey.
Our goal is that you heal effortlessly and continue to grow and become empowered until you no longer need us. Our highest goal is that we heal the world together as you activate ‘The Enlightened Feelings Effect’, where others see your positive example and want to find the same happiness and inner peace that you have found
EDITOR'S NOTE: THE REST OF THE STORY: I intentionally left out some details to spark something within the reader. You see, we judge without knowing the rest of the story—without walking a mile in someone else’s shoes. We judge because something within us is activated
The woman in the story discussed with her children and her husband before she left. She moved to another country. A VERY brave act indeed, for anyone—especially a woman alone. But, this woman had dystonia—a very disabling condition where your muscles spasm uncontrollably. She was badly crippled—walked very awkwardly, with her head and limbs spasming to the side. Her husband was not abusive. He was actually a loving caretaker who thought he was rescuing her. Everyone assumed she would never be able to work or function on her own, that she could not take care of herself and she would never have a life beyond others looking after her.
She proved them wrong—and she proved something to herself and to her children. That we aren’t limited by the hand we are dealt in life. That we all have the responsibility to find our own happiness.
What she did was empowering to her children as well as to herself—teaching them that happiness is our own responsibility. Perhaps they needed that example and that lesson more than they needed the responsibility of looking after their own mother. We don’t know, and it isn’t ours to judge.
As it turns out, she has lived her dream. She helps many people through vibro-acoustic therapies. She is now married to a man who treats her as an equal partner, and not someone who needs rescuing.
You see — YOU judged based on your own perceptions, just the same as everyone else did—and that was the point of the story. To find that wound, that personal judgment within YOU that has limited your life and kept you from being free and living your own dreams.
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