Day 6 - A Year of Spiritual Awakening - Linear Time is a Fallacy

Lesson 6: Understand that linear time is fallacy...

Again, Time makes an appearance. The difference with today's lesson is that there is a focus on being present. It's something I try to achieve on a daily basis. It's something a lot of people become more mindful of when our lives are heavily saturated with social media. Lesson 6 is about taking a moment to think about our current present moment - the past is the past and we don't know our exact future. We need to be living in the now because it's the only time we know. Could we be living differently? If we aren't doing what we enjoy, then can you change it? We need to "Understand that linear time is fallacy."

The exercise reads as " If you had only one day left in this lifetime, how would you spend it. One year? Write these thoughts down, and let them inform you."

If I only had one day left, I'd spend it with my family. I'd want to savour the moment.  I'd also want to make sure everyone is doing okay, and being looked after, before I left. And I wouldn't want it to be too complicated - it'd just be a simple outing or family lunch where we're all laughing and having a good time. I do really enjoy the simple things.

If I had one year left in this lifetime, I would like to clock all my bucket list items before I left. Right now, I am currently trying to live through experience. I go to more gigs and concerts so I can feel the music, I am blogging to execute more skill in writing, I study all aspects of witchcraft and light work so I can one day help people, I read more to expand my imagination, I am learning a language to become multilingual, I draw because I've always wanted to have that skill and there is so much more I want to achieve this year! I even wrote out all I want to achieve for 2018 on a sheet of paper and pin it up (which is in the my journal section of my blog). I don't see why I can't achieve all of this. Last year I had set backs, but I overcame the challenges, and believe I can do anything this year. I blog daily in order to maintain some form of discipline, which also flows onto everything else I currently do. I know I missed out on so much during my 20s, and I'm not going to live with regret, so I want to experience everything I dreamed of, or always wanted to do. The only person who holds you back is yourself!

Day 6 - A Year to Clear - Four Pathways of Clearing

Lesson 6 - Four Pathways of Clearing

I'm running a bit behind today as I am not feeling well at all, so apologies to anyone wanting to read this post in a timely manner.

Today's lesson is more about setting up a clear method of 4 tools that will make this journey easier during this year of clearing. Stephanie Bennett Vogt has developed these 4 elements to be integrated into our daily routines and expand our thinking. They are:

• Intention
• Action
• Non-Identification
• Compassion
  
  All 4 are to work with each other and in turn. We set our intention with building self awareness which causes a major change in our thought processes towards clarity. I'd like to think I usually set intentions via meditation or even taking a moment to really tell myself that I'm going to do it. Action gets things into motion after setting an intention. Non-identification is becoming a "silent observer" during this one year exercise. To relax, to accept things without over thinking, to not form attachment and not to burden yourself with taking things personally. Usually when we have things we want to clear, there is a feeling that triggers us and it's about removing those immediate reactions. I know I get feelings come up during decluttering. This may seem like disconnection though we fuel it with compassion next. We direct compassion towards our self. We want to love ourselves, we want to accept all of our self as well as feed self care. We need to accept our faults, failures that occur in life, and also disappointment. This is something I've been actively trying to change in my life which definitely comes with more self awareness. We need to be gentle and start noticing the feelings we gain after each clearing interaction. Stephanie advises when we live with compassion in this way, we gain nourishment and feel safe within ourselves to truly let it all go.

Sounds pretty heavy and yet everything Stephanie puts forth makes sense. This 4 way method is like a well oiled machine and we're the drivers. I did a major declutter recently and the feeling of getting it done was like this massive relief. I know when I look at what I've reduced, there is still a lot I can let go. It's part of the reason why I am doing this year to clear. I have a lot of attached memories or feel like I need to keep things when I don't really need to. I mean, how will anyone know that I own these possessions or not? No one asks about them so who am I keeping them for really? Most of the time the items I don't even think about so why do I keep it to collect dust and take up space? I've got a bit of work to do. 

We were left with one question: "So what is one simple task you can adopt that incorporates the four pathways?" Mine is quite simple. I want to clear all this stationary I have but never use. I don't know why I've been holding onto it, I think "because it's mine". But, I need to let it go because it's just physical excess I don't need. I will sort through what's useable and what's not, give away to charity or to a friends daughter who will make use of it, tell myself it's going towards good use and that it's not going to make a difference to my life once it's gone.

Day 5 - A Year of Spiritual Awakening - Time is not Linear

Lesson 5: Time is not linear...

I am running behind on this lesson, 1 because I got busy and didn't have enough time (which is funny when you read what's to come) and 2 because it requires full attention.

Carrying on from the last lesson, the concept of time makes another appearance, except it's much heavier than the last post. It's one massive journey and a lot to take on if you don't believe in past lives and future self. I do however believe in this. I have done past life regression, seen past lives and also a future life. For anyone that hasn't done this before, it may be a massive leap to action the following:

Lesson Five: Time is not linear. It is energy, and energy does not work in linear progression. Because time is not linear, as you may have once believed, it is easy for you to jump levels in time: to visit this lifetime in the past, that event in the future. It is easy to jump levels in time, once you understand the connection of all time.

Exercise: Take a moment, and ask yourself who you still hold karma with, in this lifetime. Close your eyes, and ask for a glimpse of the last lifetime you held. Close your eyes, and ask for a glimpse of the next lifetime you will have.

In one of my past life regressions, I saw my very last life before this one. There is karma from that which has flowed into this life. I do not have a good relationship with my father. Growing up, I don't think he knew how to be a father, and I guess no one really does until you become a parent. My problem as I reflect back is that he didn't try. He used to put me down and I'm not sure of the extent of this on my older brother. My dad didn't make feel good enough, that everything I did was failure. I was a kid. Kids tend to make mistakes. Kids tend to do silly things but we seek guidance from our parents to become better people. I had no confidence, low self esteem and felt worthless a lot of the time. I felt ugly. At times, I didn't think I wanted to live or didn't see the point in living. That's tough when you're a teenager. I didn't really show this towards my friends because of course you want to fit in. I remember at one point, I didn't like my life that I wanted to move to Singapore and live with extended family, just because I thought I might feel better. I currently don't talk to my dad and once I figure out who I am as a person, I believe the day will come when this will be part of the past that I built myself from.

So in my previous life regression, I saw myself living in country America on a farm. I remember seeing the corn fields and white porch of the farmhouse. I was a young caucasian boy, with blond hair and was named Jack. I was very much a loner with one real friend - my dog named Sammy. I remember my mother. She was a beauty. She had bright red hair and a wonderful smile that made me happy and reassured. My father's face I couldn't see, as in, his face was deliberately faded out. He abused me in this lifetime- physically and mentally. What I did see was myself grow up to be a fine man, got out of rural America and made something of myself. I believed this was the 1950s, and the timeline seems short as I'm born in 1984, so either I had a really short previous life or I have the dates wrong completely. All I know is that this life was definitely the life before now.

So, I asked the Divine to connect with me on this meditation to see my future life. I always put on relaxing music and randomly selected "Learn to Forgive", which is a testament to my current life and what I need to work on. I thought it was hilarious. Anyway, I was getting a lot of images. I saw myself as a gay man with my lover. I seemed happy but it seemed like I had a heavy burden to wear. Then, I mostly saw myself as a man living in Japan but not as a Japanese person. I believe I was caucasian and working on some projects together with a Japanese firm. Couldn't see what job I had. Then I saw random images like a lady who I knew was my mum but not related to that man living in Japan. I saw an Englishman who was my father, also not related to the man living in Japan. I feel like it was very fragmented but nonetheless, I have future lives ahead of me. Whether I connect spiritually in those lifetimes, I'm not sure. What I take from this is that, maybe as a gay man, I may have another lifetime of daddy issue karma but I feel like it might transform into a non-acceptance of who I am. The man living in Japan looked like he was just happy living his life, so maybe that's something to look forward to?

I can definitely see things lingering from one life to another, though I also see the potential of overcoming karma in the next life. It all seems like a working progress towards self. It makes me wonder however we start off, does our lives end when we ultimately learn all our lessons in life? Such a massive question to ponder on and answer.

Day 5 - A Year to Clear - New You

Lesson 5: New You

This week's lesson focuses on the "New You", but in actuality, it has always been inside you. This version of yourself seems new to you but actually isn't. Behind all the layers, there is the truest version of yourself. You may envision your "New You" as a playful and curious child or an old lady reminiscing about her successful life. So the question is asked "What does your "new you" look and feel like?"

I see myself as a discoverer - a person amazed by wonder. When I learn, it excites me. Even though I'm doing it now, I feel like there is so much more potential. My "new" me is more carefree and not bogged down by trivial matters. She is free-spirited and really indulges in life, is full of laughter and has all the time in the world for everyone. She loves every being and everything the universe has to offer. I always envision her running around in a field on a mountain that overlooks more of nature's gifts. She is always surrounded by good people who appreciate her journey. 

This is the person I strive for. This is the person I'm going to be. There is nothing stopping me from being this person.

Day 4 - A Year to Clear - What is Clutter?

Lesson 4: What is Clutter?

When I think of clutter, I think of myself hoarding all these unnecessary items that I tend to not use or keep for some memory. I always think of physical clutter and what we create in our homes as being the clutter that plagues me. This lesson included a video that outlined that when the body is out of balance mentally such as bad thoughts, loss and tragedy, and fear, this becomes the invisible clutter. Both visible and invisible clutter stops us from becoming our best and true selves. The video went through why we get overwhelmed and how we can slowly, but surely, overcome this.

We live in such a fast paced environment, that it's no wonder we sometimes crash and burn and lose passion for things we love and become lost. We tend to get stressed and don't realise the impact on our lives and our self. When we do have a build of stress, it can make us overwhelmed which is caused by the fight or flight mode that goes off in our brain, which is a reaction to fearful thoughts, uncomfortable situations, attachment and when we're emotionally charged. The problem is, it's hard to switch off. We unconsciously can't stop it from cycling through over and over. This feeling then leads to procrastination and avoidance.

There is a way to break through overwhelm with 3 consistent steps Stephanie Bennett Vogt mentions:
1 - We need to slow down
2 - We need to focus on tasks that don't trigger a reaction in our brain
3 - We need to be consistent in our effort daily
Stephanie used an example of a messy desk with paper everywhere, rubbish piling up and everything unorganised. The most impulsive thing we tend to do is avoid it altogether or try to tackle in one go, but she advises to take a gentle approach to get over this problem. Her method is Reduce and Repeat. The way to reduce the area is to spend focus and time on the task, but then to have awareness to in repeating the task every day until it's complete. SO, if all you can do is move one paper clip per day, do that but repeatedly and consistently. It's all about small steps, one breath at a time with all the awareness you can put together, and you keep repeating this, until it feels good.

Don't let the overwhelm talk you out of it when you think you have so much to clear! Being consistent and aware is the key. Stephanie mentions when you take a slow approach, it creates new neural pathways in the brain that triggers good habits and makes you feel good. This will have a flow on effect onto other aspects of your life. You can do Repeat every day for 1 minute. Stephanie asks you to focus on one thing that causes you frustration or stress, close your eyes, note how it makes you feel, take deep breaths - to me it is like meditating on it. After a week, you might find you slow down and simplify so it may not cause you stress anymore. The exercise is to do this now and answer the following:

• After doing the closed-eye exercise I noticed______
• Surprising ways that clutter shows up in my life are______
  
  My outcomes:
• After doing the closed-eyed exercise I noticed, I still have quite a few belongings that I want to sort as part of a recent declutter of my house.
• Surprising ways that clutter shows up in my life are people buying me things I don't need or me rearranging my house and realising there is more and more items to get rid of.