by Marcy Heller

Dear Spiritual Courageous Champions,

According to the brilliant author, Martha Beck in her new groundbreaking book, ‘The Way of Integrity’, (Integrity-The state of being whole and undivided), every time you leave your nature to serve your culture you split yourself in two and enter the world of duplicity. We are meant to live in peace, but peace can be flat and dull to the culture. Every time we leave our true nature (not be our authentic selves), it always lead to suffering. Especially since we are all terrified of the truth that will take us away from the culture we have become so accustomed to living in!

According to Beck (from an article taken from The Guardian), you have to give up your defenses and everything else that stands between you and happiness if you want to stay whole. Most people think they’re all about happiness. But ask them to drop what doesn’t make them happy? Suddenly fear comes in. The only way out is through! Over time, she argues, these kinds of cover-ups in our lives, big and small, can make us feel uncomfortable to the extent that we acquire physical symptoms. To quote a typical Beck quote: “The body truth goes ahead of the mind lie.” There are things that are not dreamed of in our philosophy. But our desire to conform and seek approval runs deep, she says. It is to inspire people to action. She argues that the the pandemic has made billions of people question whether they are continuing to pretend to be someone they are not because of what others think. How do you change that, though? Burn every bridge but truth. If you want the job that will make you happy, get out of the job that is making you miserable. Scary. But it’s not going to happen any other way. If you need a relationship that will make you happy, get out of the relationship that is not making you happy. Or get out of the mind set that is preventing you from getting your heart broken. Walk out there with your heart vulnerable and open. There is something extremely attractive about being the kind of person who knows what makes them happy and takes the steps to stay that way. But it is often counter intuitive! Notice that when you’re not yourself because you want people to like you, you hate your life. There’s this idea called ‘the empty elevator’.  Now that society is slowly opening up again, Beck says this is the ideal time to stick to your guns and be clear with yourself about whom you enjoy spending time with and what you love doing. If you are being honest and you are yourself with people, then they connect with you truly. So be true to yourself. Let yourself be seen as quirky or odd. Then the relationships you create with people will be real and solid and indestructible.

I have, along with many others, reached a turning point in our reality.  A moment in time when the things that used to hold our interests fail to provide the comfort they once did. You may not know where things are going, but you can clearly sense a new compass for how you want to live your life. It’s a time of transformation, where the dissolving of our old relationships, especially the ones with ourselves, is coming to the surface for us to ask the hard and essential questions so we can align with our truth. In other words, according to Beck, we have to be willing to give up everything in our old lives so we can begin to live the life we were born to live! None of us are the same anymore.  What’s more, even at those times when it may feel brutal to quote Ernest Hemingway, “Life breaks us all and the best of us become strong in the broken places!”

In my research I have discovered as humans it is difficult to learn again since we have been so tethered to what we were taught. The thought of changing just scares us. We don’t want to learn because we feel it may be too hard. Moreover, we don’t know what’s on the other side. So we gravitate to what feels familiar.  Because accountability, pain, suffering responsibility, and staying in integrity scares us. However, when we start to be true to ourselves we receive our own love and respect. When we stop abandoning ourselves and say ‘Yes’ to the ‘Yes’ in Us, we get to stay in joy! When we give it all up, we get it all back!  Once you are outside those limitations of our mind we get to be happy!  This is called freedom!

We are evolving and developing the capacity to perceive and manifest almost instantaneously. We are transforming in every possible way. We are living in the most extraordinary time of rebirth and transformation. Evolution is not a walk in the park. it seems we are facing our demons to break through so we can find that soft Planet inside and let go of the old so we can burst into new creations. Rebirth is the new paradigm, and we are doing it with such bravado, grace and courage. It is a time that can only be compared to when people thought the world was flat (although some still do!) No matter how they argued or wanted to believe it – no matter how hard they tried to keep that reality alive, the truth of reality was different!

And here lies the greatest secret. You are needed. You are the blessing. You are connected to all the magic that has ever come to pass. As never before, you are the Light. Brave souls, shine brightly and know you are the Bearers of Love and Light as you turn your tears and t(error) into triumph for all of humanity. Know you are counted among the constellations. You are, just by blinking, by breathing, the proof that true love exists.  Your joy, your misery, your love, your agony, your bliss, lie in your hands. There is a way out. And the way out is in. Do not despair, it is only by turning inward that we can truly create a world of love, light, and laughter. This is the doorway to that universe. Together we are making it happen.

You are living in a dream of your own creation. The only way we are going to eclipse the outrageous pain is with outrageous love. Begin to dream your new world and let it be the dream of a lifetime, for that is exactly what it is. Let us all be radially hopeful as we are breaking open the evolution of love herself.  We are rising together. There is strength in numbers.