The last I wrote to you I was on the brink of my own leap into the great abyss of the Unknown, and initiated my 40-Day Non-Grasping Experiment.
My Experiment of letting go of all outcomes continues apace. I’ve been leaning into every discomfort, and stumbling through the great trial and error (and triumph) that is life, and all of its inner and outer adventures.
So far, so good! Many new insights have come to the fore, and I sense a new kind of calm and clarity that I have not known before.
For my fellow seekers of prosperity, success, and fulfillment, I want to share what has been most revelatory for me, and certainly worth sharing with you.
For starters, if you have been following my work for a while, then you know of my vigilant pursuit of higher truth (i.e. spiritual wisdom) when confronting the cunning guise of false logic (i.e. the ego’s defenses). This is especially reflected in our creative work, but naturally goes way beyond in all areas of life.
The greatest personal hurdle I’ve had to overcome in my life (no matter what arena we are talking about) has been to honor and recognize the authority of my Inner Knowing, i.e. my intuition. That is, to accept that my mind and its conditioning are not the boss, and thus re-learn to heed this truer Knowing and its wise, calm, and aligned response.
The Way of Wisdom
Honoring an inner authority is a radical sea change in the way we experience the world around us, especially in the ways that we work, live, relate, and create. Inner Knowing is the way of Wisdom. Heeding Wisdom—She who speaks only softly—is a whole other level of personal mastery (which I am sure you are already well aware!).
Heeding the knowing personal authority is a lost art, a practice that has been pretty well stamped out of us. We forgot that we had an inner Divine Guest, an infinitely wise atman, how to be open to it, and how to listen. For me personally this lesson came at great personal detriment. I learned the hard way how to honor my own wisdom, and I am always learning how to steady my feet against the gale force winds of the mind’s (quite convincing) False Logic.
To clarify, this dichotomy might sound like:
Inner Wisdom: You should try this great idea! It’s so innovative and fresh, truly visionary and creative, could really change people’s lives, and make you feel like you are contributing something important. Trust yourself: it feels right!
False Logic: STOP. This is foolhardy selfishness! People will think you are crazy. You will probably fail. Remember all those times that you failed?!? Plus, you are wasting time when you could be doing something more productive. And also you’ll probably lose lots of money, and freak people out in the process. Now move on to something inessential!
You get my point.
However, the Ego (adeptly exercising False Logic) is not your enemy. Do you see how effective she is at keeping your feet on the ground? She is doing a great job at keeping your head down!
But, well, we are here to evolve. Which means we must change the way in which we interact with the world if we mean to go on.
So when it comes to making a shift in our lives, and having greater clarity about the fulfillment we seek, we must get wise to the consternation of False Logic who says, “you should seriously stay put!” so we can register Wisdom who whispers, “the world awaits your genius.”
The rightness of your Self-Expression
As I learn to give less-obstructed credence to my Inner Knowing, I discover that Life is handing me clues left and right about how to proceed in humble confidence.
Earlier this month, about a week into my Experiment, I followed my hunch to check out the work of Florence Scovel Shinn, mentioned by my spiritual teacher as a major influence. So I hopped over to YouTube and listened to “The Game of Life and How to Play It,” noting the millions of views, and armed with a healthy dose of skepticism (borne from a bad taste in my mouth in pursuing manifesting schemes).
Ok, I was rapt. I felt the spiritual truth in my bones, and I sensed why other people, including my highly-regarded teacher, felt the same way. Here’s the crux of my learning that I want to share with you…
In her book, F.S.S. speaks of the balance of things in our life which brings “perfect happiness.” She calls it “The Perfect Square,” which includes “health, wealth, love, and perfect self-expression.”
Makes perfect sense, of course. But I’ve never heard this topic discussed in such a way before… and I stopped in my tracks on this last point.
Of course! Perfect Self-Expression!
I danced inside with happy aliveness. This is what I have been seeking all this time! This is what my work these past few years has been tirelessly focused on, realizing Perfect Self-Expression in life, art, and work for myself, and for others who boldly seek the same.
F.S.S. states (in a very old-fashioned, 1920s kind of way):
“Man’s freedom comes through fulfilling his destiny, bringing into manifestation the Divine Design of his life.”
Despite my great efforts to realize such a noble aspiration, I could never experience “perfect happiness” within the confines of the established norms and forms of the current musical, social, and material culture. My experience of chasing a successful and lucrative creative career left me dried up, exhausted, and deeply frustrated.
And which led me, a while back, to ask the Divine for a lead. Essentially, I prayed:
Dear Lord, show me the way of my perfect self-expression, according to You and Your Highest Plan. I want to know how all these seemingly incongruent parts fit together as a perfect whole, for the fulfillment of my purpose and for the benefit of all!
I have spent the better part of the past several years digesting, integrating, and refining the wisdom that has been channeled to me about the creative process of life, and its ultimate pursuit as realizing our Perfect Self-Expression.
But we must learn to accept that this desire is not selfish, or out of our league. It is exactly, positively, most definitely what we are meant to do with ourselves.
I would add that for creative people, this is precisely what makes us original, purposeful, and fulfilled in our work.
But what I already knew (as learned the hard way), and confirmed for me in this significant book, was that the way to fulfill your Perfect Self-Expression is not by following someone else’s established pathway.
It is by forging your very own.
You have to accept that your Self-Expression is worth pursuing. And most certainly worth sharing (even if that’s just a little piece of you right now). And that there is a way for you, even if you cannot see it, and even if the illusion of scarcity of opportunity has beguiled you into a belief of well-I-guess-it’s-not-for-me-ness.
I know that trope very well. I no longer subscribe to it.
Your willingness to evolve into an as-yet-unknown realization of your Perfect Self-Expression is the key to begin. Your Inner Knowing, and the exercise of your intuition, is the vehicle of your illumination.
The rest will unfold quite perfectly.
Love,
Allison
