This week almost passed without a newsletter. Usually, Spirit will give me a topic each week
by mid week but this week nothing was coming. When I asked, there was silence, nada, crickets. Then while doing some errands this morning, it came in strong and clear. I was listening to a podcast about living with someone with Alzheimer’s. The host commented on how other people’s perception of us partially defines our identity and when a loved one with Alzheimer’s forgets who we are, it creates a hole in our identity. It made me pause and ask,” Is that really true?” Then the bigger question came in, “WHO AM I?” Do you ever take pause in your busy life to ask yourself that question, “WHO AM I?” How would you answer?
Most often, we describe ourselves from just one aspect of how we present to the world. Social convention focuses us on describing ourselves based on our ranking within a family – “I’m insert the name of the family member that the other person knows daughter/son/partner/ cousin” At other times, we label ourselves according to our race – “I’m Black”, or nationality - “I’m Canadian,” or even health status – “I’m a cancer survivor.” When we use the type of descriptions above, we describe ourselves in relation to other people.
Another single aspect that is used when we describe ourselves is in terms of what we do for a living – “I’m a nurse. I’m a student. I’m a team lead in performance analytics for name of company inserted here. I’m an engineer. I’m a clerk.” How many women respond with “I’m a ‘stay-at-home-mom’”? * We may describe ourselves based on our physical qualities such as “I’m a ginger (redhead).” Many often describe themselves in terms of what skills they have, in other words, they describe what they can do - “I’m a writer. I’m a hockey player. I’m a clairvoyant. I’m a healer. I’m a leader.” All these descriptors we so often use when talking about who we are, paint a picture of how we are seen by others, what we do in the world, and what roles we play when interacting with others. They describe how we present ourselves to the world.
*As an aside, I must ask whether that phrase, ‘stay-at-home-mom, even makes sense? Does it mean that moms who are employed by someone else or who have their own business are never at home? What about the mom’s who work for someone else virtually from their home? Are they ‘stay at home moms'? I know, I know. The phrase is intended to replace the word ‘housewife’ which meant a woman whose role it was to manage the home including caring for the children and who was not employed outside the home. (Source: Wikipedia: Housewife) Often the label is used by women apologetically as they feel ‘second class’ to ‘career women’ or ‘working moms’ who are employed outside of the home. I take offense to both labels. Both moms spend time at home with their children and managing the household and both ‘moms’ work – they work at parenting, cleaning, cooking, etc. That is work! In our world now where women fill many complex roles and in our society of gender neutrality, I would suggest the labels are outdated and redundant. But I digress… Now, to get back on track... When we think about “WHO AM I?” some may also describe aspects of their behavioural characteristics we call personality – “I’m outgoing. I’m quiet. I’m funny. I’m smart. I’m curious.” These are getting a little closer to our inner self, to who we truly are, but they may also, again, just be describing our external presentation to the world. And as we get closer to describing WHO we are versus what we DO we tend to stumble. Have you ever taken part in an icebreaker activity in a group or a psychology assignment at school where you had to name three of your best traits? Do you recall how difficult it was to think of your positive qualities versus your faults? Don’t worry, you are not alone.
How often do you take the time to think about who you really are? Who are you at the core of your being? Who are you as a unique individual? When we really think about “WHO AM I?” we realize that we are way more complex than a singular descriptor. We have an external presentation to the world. We have a way we interact with others. In his article, Polish the Lense and Meet Your True Self, Dr Wayne Dyer recalls author Joseph S Benner describing this as our personal self – the part of us controlled by the mind and our five senses. This personal self can be self inflating and self sabotaging and therefor limit us in our growth.
Dyer reassures us though, that we also have an impersonal self that is with us our entire lifetime. It is the FORCE that supports all life and gives rise to your deepest lifelong desires. It is the spark, our inner light, our true self. It is the core of our being and points us in the direction of our purpose. As we learn how to connect with our impersonal self, our core being, we are able to grow and fulfill our life purpose. Can you recognize yourself as a spark of the Divine, a soul, having a human experience? Can you connect with your true inner self to move along your path? Can you describe yourself as a unique human being with unique qualities, skills, and spiritual gifts on your own unique path to fulfill your soul’s purpose on your unique timeline? Let’s break all that down a bit…
When you answer the question “WHO AM I?” you need to look deeper than just your personality. You need to connect to your inner self, to your inner light. You need to remember who you truly are. Many spiritual practices describe each human soul as coming from Source, as being part of the light of God or Source. Many spiritual leaders promote forgiveness as the way to connecting to the inner love and light. For example, A Course In Miracles “is a unique spiritual self study program designed to awaken us to the truth of our oneness with love and God.” The goal of the course is learning to heal all relationships through forgiveness. As you connect with your inner light, you will reconnect with your core desires, characteristics, and values. As you embrace these and bring them forward in your everyday life, others will see a different side of you and relationships may change. (For more insight on this see Empath Month: Coming Out Of The Spiritual Closet) Remember if this happens that everything is on Divine purpose.
Dr Wayne Dyer: YOU ARE LIGHT. When you accept this, you allow yourself to experience your true essence as a spark of the infinite divine intelligence.
As we connect more with our inner light, it becomes easier to also connect with our Guides, Angels, and Ascended Masters all of whom are there to assist us in working through our life lessons along our path to fulfilling our purpose. When we listen to our inner self and our Spirit team, we can more easily navigate the challenges we face in learning those lessons. When we approach things from a place of love and light, we see those challenges as opportunities for growth. Those opportunities and lessons were chosen by us when we planned this lifetime so that we would progress and achieve the spiritual growth we all strive for. Part of that plan also included a timeline where specific events and opportunities arise at the best time to support our growth. This Divine timing is always in our best interest.
To help us implement our plan, we also have spiritual gifts tethered to our soul. Those gifts are many and varied. They can range from the gift of being an incredible musician, to a brilliant scientist, to a loving and nurturing person, to being clairvoyant or an empath or psychic. Many spiritual gifts are “shut down” in our youth or “socialized out of us.” For example, when
a child talks about playing with the fairies, they are often not encouraged or told not to tell silly stories by adults who cannot see the fairies. Soon the child believes what she is told and her ability to see her fairy friends fades. However, one never loses their gifts. So, when reconnecting with your inner self you can also reawaken your gifts. At times this can be a confusing process. What is important is to stay open to the possibility, know in your heart and TRUST that the Divine always acts in your best interest, and connect with others who have had similar experiences or teachers for support.
As we grow in learning our life lessons, connecting with Spirit and our true inner selves, we come closer to fulfilling our purpose that we have chosen for this lifetime. It is connected to our soul’s purpose that we fulfill over all our lives. As we learn and grow it is comforting to know that because we are all connected (because we all come from the light of Source), our growth positively affects others. As we continue to live in love and light, our loving energy nurtures the Mother Earth and all on it. There is an energetic ripple effect from everything we do.
So, you see, you are so much more than a brunette or a carpenter. As I connect with my inner
light my answer to “WHO AM I?” is more than a mother, wife, grandmother, sister, daughter, nurse, writer, etc. When I connect on a deeper level, I have grown my gifts of being empathic, clairaudient, clairvoyant, and an intuitive counsellor and energetic healer. I hear, know, and feel in my heart that I am spiritual, present, one with Source, joyous, confident, strong, and important. I am love and light. And so are you! I hope you can take a quiet moment today to connect with your inner self, with your spark, with your love and light.
Lots of love and hugs,
Marilyn
Resources
If you would like to learn more about discovering “WHO AM I?” here are a few resources I have found helpful:
Books:
A Course in Miracles by Dr. Helen Schucman
Websites:
Intuitive Counselling and Angel Card Readings
If you have the need for a helping hand to connect with your inner light, I am offering intuitive counselling and angel card readings online or in person (in Calgary).
Thanks for bringing up W Dyer , He was my bridge in learning how to think