We are all one, yes. I have seen and felt it in the core of my being. There is not a shred of doubt in my mind. As A Course In Miracles so beautifully puts it:
“The body is a tiny fence around a little part of a glorious and complete idea. It draws a circle, infinitely small, around a very little segment of Heaven […].”
We are all one, yes, and at the same time that one intelligent energy emerges into physical form in an infinite number of ways. Just as it becomes not only a pink rose, but also a yellow rose, a red rose and all the many shades in between, it becomes you and it becomes me and it becomes every other person on this planet. At the level of essence, we are indistinguishable from one another and yet on the level of form, we each have our own distinct beauty.
I remember being on a training weekend in London, sitting in a circle of twenty or so other coaches and creatives. We knew each other by that point, having already spent several weekends together. I don’t recall the context of the conversation but I do remember speaking out something along the lines of, “It’s just so obvious to me, looking around at everyone, that we each have something so unique to bring.”
It was obvious. Looking at each of the faces I had a very strong feeling for how wonderful it was that we were each who we are; that simply by being ourselves, we naturally brought something very particular to our work and to the world.
Try it for yourself. Bring to mind a small circle of your friends and tune in to the feeling you get for each of them. Don’t they all quite naturally have different qualities about them? Not better or worse, but just different? And don’t they each have unique gifts and talents, either tangible or intangible?
I truly believe that each and every one of has a very particular set of gifts and talents, although we may not be conscious of what they are. Indeed, it has taken me many years of this journey to recognise and accept some of my own.
When we are living in alignment with those gifts and talents, using them and using them in service of the whole, life feels full and complete and as it should be. When we’re living out of alignment with those gifts and talents, either because we haven’t yet become conscious of them or because we’ve not reached a point of recognising and accepting their value, life feels all out of whack.
I’ve noticed, over the years, one particular way to recognise a true calling in your life. By true calling I mean something that is meant for you, a direction you are specifically being called to go.
I want to share what I’ve noticed in the hope that it will encourage you on in that direction because what I’ve also observed over the years in myself and others, is that we have the greatest resistance to our truest callings. Joseph Campbell said it best:
“The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.”
To illustrate the idea, let me share with you how it’s been showing up in my own life most recently. Here are some of the messages I’ve received about my writing over the last few months:
“Leah, you really have a gift. I can see and sense it. Your writing is exquisite. Grace in motion….. Thank you for sharing your heart and soul so openly.”
“I’m happy to hear you’re doing well. Your writing keeps getting better and better: are you thinking of publishing your Facebook posts into a book?”
“Leah you have been blessed as a writer and you inspire SO many people. By becoming a best selling author, I see you travelling the world, sharing your story with so many people.”
“You write what my soul speaks.”
It’s only relatively recently that I’ve finally come to recognise and accept that writing is one of the gifts I have to share. Sometimes it’s hard not to feel silly or arrogant for saying something like that but when it comes to gifts, it’s just as arrogant to deny them. After all, they are not truly ‘yours’, but rather the beauty and intelligence of life working through you.
Almost every time I receive a note about my writing, the same thing happens:
I cry.
The feeling comes from deep, deep inside. The tears are a meeting of two things:
First, a recognition of something true. Within my heart, if I am honest, I know that for whatever reason, life has matched me and the writing of words together. We belong to one another.
Second, a knowing that I haven’t fully said yes to what is true. A knowing that I have not fully leaned in to this gift that is asking to co-create with me.
When those two things meet, there is a welling up of deep emotion. It is such a difficult thing to describe but I’m willing to bet you know the same feeling. It’s the emotion of knowing that you are being strongly called in a direction and at the same time either completely resisting that direction or not fully stepping into it. It’s the joy of recognising a gift or a possibility and the sorrow of not fully living it.
I have known this feeling many times in my life. That same rising up of emotion when something true meets some level of pushing away. When this sort of emotion emerges, we can be sure we’re being called in a direction that is true for us. We can be sure that this is a cave we need to explore. We can be sure that if we move towards what is calling, life will unfold in miraculous ways.
And yet too often we don’t trust it. There is such great fear there. We push it aside or, when the emotion subsides, tell ourselves that it was nothing.
But it wasn’t nothing. This was our soul speaking. And if we’re honest with ourselves, we heard the call, loud and clear. Perhaps today will be the day we answer and say yes to what is asking to be lived through us.
Love and courage,
Leah
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