I invite you to open your heart when you read my offerings. Do they spark memories of delightful experiences when you have felt, even for a brief moment, the belief that you are not alone, that you belong as a tiny part of something much greater – something fuelled by compassion and goodwill? It is time to bring out our stories that unite us and help us rekindle and fuel the passion to live our lives to our highest potential.
These tales recount some of my adventures that began as a wild yearning to discover my potential, and to live the fullest spectrum possible in this lifetime. This impulse brought me to share slices of life with people from various cultures, usually living in fairly remote areas. I wanted to live as part of their world – each time, adopting it as my new context. In this way I would learn to appreciate the world from many different perspectives. This quest allowed me to enjoy the most wonderful heart-felt connections with those who did not speak my language or share my customs, exposing me to the deep interconnection that binds our human family beyond the superficial sense of “otherness”. These experiences fulfilled a deeper yearning to discover and experience life in a universally connected realm. I realize now that experiencing this “joined-up” realm was much easier to do while in an unfamiliar world, free of expectations and certainties. This is because, in a life of familiar routines and known quantities, it is easy to slip into the automatic gear of simply negotiating the best route through it, without questioning where it is taking you. There is little time or energy for appreciating the greater process and wondering why things are as they are or questioning if that reality is even true or helpful.
Years earlier, before I even started on these adventures, I became aware of two major internal aspects pulling in different directions: My narcissistic Ego self and a more ethereal aspect, which I call my Higher Self that aspired to something beyond just fulfilling mundane expectations. My Ego self made its voice loud and clear and left little opportunity for the more elusive Higher Self’s input. Yet, I felt more attracted to the subtler voice. It was the one that urged me to see and contribute to the larger picture, beyond personal gain. The Higher Self seemed to be connected to a universal source of intelligence, which, when it guided me, brought feelings of fulfilment and peace. I headed off into the unknown in order to learn more about this Higher Self and how to integrate it into my life. To do this, I knew I had to increasingly rely on the intelligence of my heart rather than solely on my brain, which was usually more aligned to self-centred perspectives. I’ve chosen some anecdotes from my journeys in an attempt to highlight my experience in the dynamic dance of integration and Self-discovery, which is very much an on-going process.
