What is it that you are seeking in your life?
When I was a kid, I loved going to the planetarium. I would sit back in the domed theater and find myself traveling through time and space amongst stars, planets, and other celestial objects. I was in awe of the vastness of life. With Morgan Freeman's deep and soothing voice narrating in the background, I wondered at the great mystery of my humble existence on a tiny planet spinning in a galaxy amongst the trillions of galaxies that make up this Universe.
As I grew up, I got busy playing the games that we humans in the Western world were taught to play - paying my bills, making a name for myself, accumulating earthly possessions. While these activities helped me build a sense of self, they also created an illusion of predictability and control for a tiny speck of dust in the vast expanse of the Universe.
Over the past few years, the sense of awe I felt as a kid came back. I once again began to wonder “Why am I here?”
So, instead of continuing on a linear pathway, I decided to experiment with the Universe. I became a seeker. What I seek is not to arrive at a destination, but the personal and spiritual growth that comes with the journey. This means I dive in for the full range of human experiences and emotions, rather than maintaining personal comfort, because ultimately these ups and downs are what allow my soul to evolve the most in this short and beautiful existence.
You see, my friend, the human spirit is not meant to stay in place. We are meant to be more than the same predictable cycle of sleep-eat-work and repeat. Our soul deeply longs for growth, expression, and aliveness. In cosmic time, we're here one moment, and we're gone the next. Perhaps to realize our soul's greatest expansion, we're not here to simply play it safe but to stumble, fall, rise, and learn through it all.
Throughout my journey, I have witnessed that the wisest and happiest people are often the ones who seek to experience a full range of emotions that allow them to feel thoroughly alive. They have grieved. They have healed. They have been disappointed many times over. They have pieced together a great quilt out of patches of joy and sorrow. They have loved deeply and suffered from heartbreaks. And when they hit rock bottom, they thought they would never rise again, but then they did. They have learned by experience that grief is not the end. When they least expect it, happiness comes around again. The reason they feel so alive is because they thoroughly engage in life. They know they can't always control their lives to avoid pain or discomfort. They put themselves out there and take risks. They allow themselves to experience what life has set out to show them, and feel whatever emotions that arise. They choose growth over stagnation. The richness and intensity of it all make them feel fully alive.
Over the past few years, I have fully given myself the permission to experiment with the Universe. I followed the energetic breadcrumbs and pursued passions big and small regardless of the outcome. Through it all, I realized that my infinite spirit cannot be confined in the box that my human mind created. My spirit abides by none of the rules that the humans made up. In my experimentation, I can write like a lawyer or a poet. By day, I run my business and take care of my physical needs. By night, I give psychic readings and travel to the astral space to do healing. I'm equally adept at giving a Powerpoint presentation to an audience in suits and ties and holding space for clients who are having profound energetic releases at a spiritual retreat I'm hosting. I constantly test the range and depth of my human and spiritual potential, and I intend to do so until I take my last breath in this body.
Experimenting with the Universe has taught me that I am so much more creative and capable than I had previously given myself credit for, and I have so much greater capacity to experience life fully than what society or family has programmed me to believe. I realized that I could never "fail" at anything because the ongoing journey of facing my fears and finding new paths has developed me in more profound ways than staying in my comfort zone can. My action often confuses people who play by the linear rules of our society. But misunderstanding by others only teaches me to love myself more and choose myself over external validation every day. From a place of loving and healing, I can consciously decide which raw materials - the action and the people in alignment with my truth - to include in creating the masterwork that is my life. And slowly but surely, the new pieces are coming together. When you seek life, you will almost certainly feel pain. Some days you will also experience great joy. But if you are protecting yourself the whole time, you don't feel truly alive. Playing it too safe leaves you feeling unfulfilled, empty, and numb.
So, tell me:
How do you experiment with the Universe in your own ways?
When were times in your life when you affirmatively chose growth over comfort?
What seems risky but makes you feel alive?
Please remember this: even though you are only a tiny speck in an expanding Universe, you still have unlimited potential to change your own circumstances in this lifetime and to create an impact on the lives of those around you. The small decisions you make every day do matter!