(Re)Discovering Who You Are

But if you have our blood in your veins,
Then you will know us, know home, know who you are.
--excerpt from Ancestors, by Albannach

“I felt that beings were looking in upon me…
They seemed to be saying to each other about us,
‘Soon they will awaken; soon they will come to us again.’
…and I knew the Golden Age was all about me,
and it was we who had been blind to it, but that
it had never passed away from the world.”
--Irish mystic George Russell (A.E.), 1918

I'm beginning to be clear on many things about who I am, and how it all works for me. The above quotes are clues about who I am. A recognition of my energy, my ancestral connections, my awakening consciousness. I'm receiving my personal road-maps to consciousness. It's looking ever so much simpler now that I only have to listen to the inner voice.

Do you know who you are? OK, too difficult. Better to rephrase.

Do you think you know who you are? Yes, much easier.

This one requires a little more thought, less feeling. I bet we could all make a long list about this one. And I think that's a good start.

Making a list about all of the things we believe ourselves to be, our roles, our stories. Ostensibly, our belief systems. Write them all down, then we can get to work.

The first step in becoming conscious of who you really are is to look at how you identify yourself. The way you identify yourself is a mixed bag. Outside prompting from parents, teachers, role models. Roles you play in your life; parent, sibling, nurse, lover, architect. Personal and public. Your reactions to outside stimuli. Your judgments about yourself. And, of course, your inner promptings and emotions.

Each individual is a complex amalgam of these many identifiers. And those seem to shift generationally. But we are, of course, talking about you now. How does your own personal make-up look?

Take your list and as you read each entry, put an asterisk next to the ones that fill you with a sense of joy and happiness. Put a large check mark next to those that come from your inner promptings and emotions.

Surprised? I'm not.

Are tired of receiving mixed messages about how to find inner peace, or following to the letter the advice of the latest self-help book only to feel like a miserable failure when you, um, fail at it? Fed up with listening to the guru who can tell you how to create more prosperity and abundance in your life just by wishing it to be so? How much time, money and effort have you spent trying to change things about yourself, let go of your (insert word here) anger, fear, ego in order to truly be non-attached and end your suffering forever?

How, exactly can you ever expect to let go of something that you've never fully embraced? Something you don't entirely understand? How can anyone else give you a cookie-cutter version of awakening when it looks different for each being? Enlightenment is not one-size-fits-all, despite the hype.

But it isn't all that complicated. At least, it doesn't have to be.

First things first; get to know yourself. Most people are so caught up in their roles and stories about themselves that they never listen to themselves and what makes them happy. The things that make their soul sing. And by the time they realize that they are miserable and unhappy, they aren't sure where to turn. We could talk about anti-depressants, the divorce rate, porn, alcohol and recreational drugs, but these are all just distractions. This is about you, remember?

I don't claim to be able to 'fix' you. If you don't know who you are, how am I supposed to be able to figure it out, then correct what you deem to be 'wrong'? I don't think you need to be fixed. Or saved. I think you just need to be able to see yourself clearly, and maybe make a minor course adjustment if it takes you in an overall joyful and more connected direction.

But I think I can help, by sharing what I'm realizing along the way.

Learn who you think you are. Learn what roles you've elected to play in your life. Learn what your stories are; your operating principles. Learn where they come from; you or someone else. Figure out what doesn't serve you anymore. Embrace the emotions that come with these realizations, and express them in a way that is safe for you and safe for others. Forgive yourself. Release your old stories; from all levels of your being (mental emotional, spiritual, physical). Create a new story; one you wish to live, not one you can tolerate.

Yes, it really is that simple.

Each time we release an old 'story' about ourselves, it creates a space for something new and wonderful to take its place. A spaciousness that holds the potential for creation at a level on par with the energy you've just released.

This is only a road-map; I don't promise there won't be any bumps, or boulders blocking the path. But I can promise that if you do come across obstacles, that only you have the power to move them, because you are the only person with the authority to have allowed them to arise in the first place. This part is about 100% accountability for everything that happens in your life. Maybe that's the simple-but not-so-easy part.

We all need help with this. We need to have an objective observer, and a loving observer in order to be able to witness ourselves, and have someone hold us accountable while holding the vision of us as a beautiful human being. We must be congruent with ourselves, and accepting of what is. Only then can we allow anything that is inauthentic to fall away.

And one last thing; unhappiness is inauthentic to who you really are. And when you find out who that is, you will know this as well.

Good luck on your journey; the road home to yourSelf.

Beannachtai go leir (Blessings to All)

I Send You Love.