I find there are is a lot of misinformation about spirituality. I have heard many people who consider themselves deeply spiritual talk of certain exercises or working with certain types of energy and then end it with the warning, “but please if you are going to work with fire energy don’t do that on your own call me because you can’t do that on your own.”
When it comes to journeying this life we, of course, can seek out people to help guide us along the path if that’s what feels best however it’s not necessary.
Someone, somewhere, did everything for the first time. Probably did it alone, probably made a right mess of things and you know what? Grew, learned and didn’t make that mistake again. Or didn’t learn, kept making a right mess of everything and here we are the world a turning.
I have struggled with building my spiritual practice because like most things I don’t fit with any business model. I have tried and tried to resonate with the term “coach” and I just can’t. I hate that word and what it represents to me: someone who is able to coach you along to your best self.
I always prefer the term collaborator or better yet as a fellow traveler who’s joining you for part of your journey. Imagine you are hiking the Appalachian Trail. You have your pack filled with everything you believe you will need and you are out there enjoying the terrain. You have hard times, good times but you are doing your thing and enjoying. Then imagine you stumble across another hiker. From the moment you meet the hiker, they are talking about your gear, and warning you of the terrain and telling you that you need to hire them as a guide or you’ll make some sort of major mistake.
Their intentions are probably well-meaning. They have learned the hard way and want to protect you from the same perils they faced. The only difference is just because someone met an obstacle on their path does not mean you will meet the same. We are all on unique journeys and have a unique vision. Perhaps you will never even notice the cliff they tried to climb and fell from. Maybe you are agiler and even if you had climbed and fallen would have landed on your feet, stumbled and laughed the entire thing off.
One person having a challenging experience does not make it a reality for everyone. We live in a time right now where we are being bombarded with images, situations, and things that we are being told we need to care about and take action on. Not only that but there is a lot of noise about the kind of action we are supposed to be taking and that anything less than that type of action is enabling the evil to continue in our world.
It is not for anyone to tell anyone else what they should care about or how they should live. Ever. Not ever. If I am passionate about something it is my job and my job alone to live authentically to that truth and travel that path. Not belittle and berate anyone who has not chosen to join me in the manner I deem acceptable. To believe that as truth is hiding the fact that I am afraid of my own solitary path and need to have people with me so I feel supported and that truth is all about me and not about any cause I professing to care so deeply about. The truth is the more time you spend trying to convince other people who they should be living the more profoundly you are avoiding your own life and truth.
It is imperative that as we navigate our own lives, as we work to be deliberate creators of our own experience that we do not let others tell us where to focus or what we should care about. We do not limit ourselves by believing we need trained guides to help us along our path. If we trust ourselves and our own journey any information we need will be presented to us in such a way that we will feel we have found an old friend. Someone to journey with and who will learn and explore right beside us. Not a guide who will tell us how to journey, what to see and what to do. And not someone we have had to force at our side by telling them if they cared they would join us.
You are the only expert on your own life. Trust your intuition and allow yourself to move to the places you are meant to go and trust that others will do the same.
Much love.
Until next time…
-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante