You may not want to be noticed, but authenticity, courage, and truth often draw attention. And that’s a good thing.
Create. Don't Compare.
How others have done it or are doing it is their path - not yours. Trying to figure out how someone else did it or is doing it is an energy drain.
Your Light
Trust your own light.
What Do You Feel?
Not, what do you think you “should” feel?
Forgive Yourself
Forgive yourself. Sincerely gift yourself your own forgiveness. This is powerful and freeing. It also softens your heart so that you may love yourself too.
Your Ego & Your Heart
Survival mode. Protecting yourself. Setting boundaries. Avoiding risk. Being safe. Choosing security. Each is grounded in what you already know. But what about what you don’t know? Allow your curiosity to explore. Try new things. Ask questions. Be a learner. Lead with an open heart.
It's Time
What we try to hide or run from, remains.
This Moment
Where is your attention? Are you re-living? Are you forecasting? Are you repeating? Are you hypothesizing?
Will you be in this moment? Fully? Allow and welcome what is. And love. Love to learn.
Daily Moment of Awareness [10.20.2019]
Moments of awareness shared with you
While we enjoy the majesty of this life, we will also experience pain. We all will. There is no avoiding it. In fact, a life spent trying to avoid pain leads to suffering.
Pain happens, whether unexpected (loss of a loved one, natural disaster, etc.) or as a result of our own doing (ruminating in resentment, allowing fear to influence our choices, etc.). The lesson is no matter the source of pain, it’s how (or if) we decide to face it that will shape us. Choosing not to embrace pain will lead to suffering. Facing pain in unhealthy ways (through numbing = drugs, sleep, pretending, etc.) will also lead to suffering. And it is suffering that gives pain power to manipulate you into believing you cannot heal.
Pain is another experience we must move through. Don’t get wrapped up in the pace of it. Do notice if you are stagnating.
Give action to pain. Ask for help (friend, family, counseling, etc.) Meditate. Pray. Journal. Engage in healthy activities (exercise, reading, walking, etc.). Other forms of action include: expressing your truth, acceptance, forgiveness, love.
Move through your pain so you can heal in love.
Daily Moment of Awareness [10.17.2019]
Moments of awareness shared with you
There is no blueprint for me.
There is no blueprint for you.
There is only acceptance of our truths.
Daily Moment of Awareness [10.14.2019]
Moments of awareness shared with you
Maybe it’s not work. Maybe it’s not grueling. Maybe it’s not exhausting.
Maybe….it’s necessary.
When you consider making change in your life, do you cast a negative shadow on the experience? Like, before you even take a step? Think about how you characterize what you need to do or what you are trying to achieve. The more you paint it in a negative light, the more mental blocks you create to get in the way. As if you needed any more excuses.
When you reflect on areas of your life that you believe to be unhealthy or in need of a healthy dose of change, it is helpful to think and speak about the change in a grounding and benefiting way. Ask for the effort and energy needed to move forward. Allow lessons along the way. Be patient with yourself. Say, “Thank you.” for the opportunity.
You affect the process of change by your attitude about change. See it as necessary and welcome it as part of your growth.
Daily Moment of Awareness [10.12.2019]
Moments of awareness shared with you
I’ve spent a great deal of my life trying to play the “expected or acceptable role.” Though I can blame how I thought others wanted to see me, I ultimately chose how to express myself. This resulted in me being unsure of the life I wanted or how to deal with the life I had.
This conflicted feeling had been present in the mundane every day living as well as in the deeper experiences.
What I’m discovering is as I let go of my own made up stories of “what they want from me” and instead ground myself in “this is who I am,” I feel peace. I feel gratitude. Like, where have I been my entire life?!?!
I also recognize living my truth needs conscious decision making from me. Yes, my life deserves my time, space, and attention.
Daily Moment of Awareness [10.8.2019]
Moments of awareness shared with you
I am discovering what it means to feel all the feelings. Today, was non-stop with emotions. They took me all over the place. I found myself thinking not, “Why am I feeling this?” but instead, “What can I learn from this?”
This is big time progress for me. Rather than racing, full steam into the emotion, I felt it, named it, and asked what the lesson may be? I became more accepting of my choices in life - good, bad, happy, sad, doesn't matter. They are mine and mine to learn from.
I felt like I truly honored my whole being today.
Daily Moment of Awareness [10.2.2019]
Moments of awareness shared with you
I was reminded today of something I’ve been sitting with in my times of refection. I don’t believe we need courage to live our truth. I believe we need acceptance. We need to FIRST accept our truth. Love our truth. Once you do that, living your truth will begin to feel like breathing. It will feel natural.
Because your truth is your nature.
Our truth is in us. Always. It’s that thing we hide. It’s that thing we deny. It doesn’t take courage to do that. It’s simply a conscious choice. Therefore, you can make a conscious choice to live your truth too. Out loud.
Stop with the pep talks about living your truth and just be it.
Daily Moment of Awareness [9.30.2019]
Moments of awareness shared with you
Meditation is an experience which gives the individual the opportunity to see oneself. Unfiltered. Non-judged. Without fear.
This does not mean it is without intense emotion, but it is emotion grounded in how you see yourself. This is powerful. Many of us chip away (sometimes strip away) our authenticity in order to be accepted, to be loved, or we do it to be invisible. We then begin to see ourselves as others want to see us.
My meditative practice has been about eight years in the making. Where I am at is leaps and bounds from where I began. But what I realized today is, when I meditate I am seeing and feeling my authentic self. It’s liberating. It’s inspiring.
I’m also reminded I have work to do, but I’m not embarrassed by it. I am accepting of it. I am accepting of me.
Fear Is Not A Validation
People hear what you say. People see what you do. But people do not experience your life experiences as you do.
Furthermore, we often dial down or even hide our truth. The deep, core experience dancing in our souls and warming our hearts. For as real as it feels to us, we still try to make sense of it. We question it and doubt it. There are so many reasons why we do this and it all points back to fear.
How much do you reveal in your moment to moment?
We tell people what we think they will accept. We show people what we think they will accept. We surrender to fear. We tell ourselves we have difficult choices to make, but what that really mean is we have tradeoffs to make. The tradeoff is our authenticity for someone else's acceptance. Why? Because we allow fear to be a validation for how we choose to live.
Fear is NOT a validation.
words on image: Michael Barata / image: Jez Timms
Your Truth
Who YOU are can only be discovered and realized by YOU. What others may think or say is their own deal.
You make choices. You make decisions. You make mistakes. You learn lessons. You dance in bliss. You grow from pain. You express your truth. You reflect in silence.
Life is your most precious gift. The journey is yours to unwrap it.
words on image: Michael Barata / image: Ravi Pinisetti
Be Instead of Prove
Think about your energy. Think about your time. Think about YOUR LIFE. How do you want/need to be expressing yourself? How often do you allow someone else to influence how you create and live your life?
Your reference point for your authenticity is within YOU. Your successes and failures contribute to the path you are blazing. Burn the bridges of conformity and judgment with every step you take.
Stop proving yourself. Love yourself. Trust yourself. Nurture yourself. BE YOURSELF!
all words + words on image: Michael Barata / image: Nick Fewings
Questions
So busy. So distracted. So tired. So frustrated. So doubtful.
How can you see? How can you be? What should you see? Who should you be?
Where have you been? .
all words + words on image: Michael Barata / image: Jon Tyson
I Am Authentic
[I Am mini-series #1]
The chorus sings loud and clear, “Create your most authentic life!” I totally agree with nurturing people to be their true self. I also acknowledge the individuality and the unique journey of authenticity.
But first, you need to become aware of your authenticness - simply because you are you. There is nothing to create. You ARE authentic. No need to discover it, but instead, honor it. Ground yourself in the truth of your authenticity. The free flowing bliss of it. The challenging vulnerability of it. All of it.
YOU are AUTHENTIC.
all words by Michael Barata / image: NordWood Themes