RETURN TO YOUR RITUALS
When considering the piece "Return to Your Rituals" many images come to mind: those activities where I feel at peace, where my soul is set on fire, where I'm feeling abundance within and around me, where there is unity with all of consciousness.
This song is dedicated to the activities and rituals that do just that. It honors the importance and impact of those fundamentals that sustain presence and awareness. This tune is an ode to the little things that make up the whole. It's a reminder to show up consistently for those practices that build a sense of vibrant rhythm and fortified focus.
These rituals are different for everyone. The right formula can only arise from experimentation and repetition. Through your active engagement, you will find the path that's right for you, the activities that guide your presence and lead to more powerful participation. This is where you'll uncover your biggest insights that stimulate your most stable and cleanest forms of energy.
High energy is best when it can be sustained and applied in a focused manner. Especially when it is in service to something greater and bigger than yourself. This has been something I have struggled with, and will continue to work on, for the rest of my life. Like many in our day and age I have been selfish, ego driven and narcissistic throughout much of my life.
Meditation is the keystone habit. It is the primary ritual that I must return to every day in order to be present and separate myself from the flood of thoughts that arise throughout the day. It's through this practice that my awareness has been strengthened and widened into a more holistic, healthy perspective. This has been the essential tool for unwinding the ego-driven thoughts and behaviors that used to dictate every aspect of my life.
Change can be terrifying. Our ego will do everything it can and play every trick in the book to seduce you back into comfort and what's safe. When you're faced with the challenge of change, ask yourself this question: are you scared of your own potential?
The pain and intensity required to shift, grow and expand to your ultimate potential can seem daunting and overwhelming. It takes serious work! But again, I ask you, are you scared of your infinite potential that lies on the other side of this work and discomfort? How else are you supposed to reach your ultimate destiny? Or reach the pinnacle, the ideal, the distant dream that you've envisioned for yourself? Are you afraid of what you might leave behind? Or are you afraid of what you might become?
It takes awareness and courage to embrace the change that always lies on the horizon. When you face the dynamics with an open heart and accept all the feelings and emotions for what they are you invite a higher power to come to your aid. Resistance can get there first and be habitual and powerful, especially in a society where ego is dominant. But I promise there is so much to be gained and learned when you can trust yourself and invite consciousness to fill the void. It's the only way to evade the negative thoughts and stories that cripple your evolution.
Your ego is attached to your old, static self and an array of forms that provide a false sense of identity. Your ego endures in your safety. Your ego lives within your self-made structures of security. It takes awareness to shift your state and leap into your untapped potential. You cannot build the life of your dreams without burning out the stale and embracing the mystery of the unknown.
What happens when you see below and beyond your doubts, your fears, your negative thoughts? You get a glimpse of absolute consciousness, infinite abundance, the energy that animates all forms of life. You sense the omnipresent intelligent source that transcends everything. If you're able to quiet your mind, stay still, and listen... you will find the answers that you've been looking for within that sacred source.
Another lesson I've learned is that you must take accountability and responsibility for the energy you are manifesting. Honor the intelligence that you outwardly seek and summon for assistance. Training is a tool to move past fear, doubt, delay... it normalizes the feelings of growth, expansion and evolution.
By returning to your rituals you gain clarity on the causality that dictates your life. You see those inputs and influences that draw you closer to consciousness. You learn to lean in to them. Rituals help you to identify those responses and reactions that push you farther from your true self and deeper into unconsciousness.
When you respect the ritual you establish a rhythm, a continuity, a consistency for you to synchronize and bolster the connection between mind-body-spirit. It becomes a meeting place, a home, a well that you can return to and draw inexpressible energy from.
No longer are you caught in a web of confusion, counterfeit and cravings. No longer are serving your selfish desires and aims. You begin to serve the collective, the whole, both the world within and without. No longer are you stuck feeding insatiable habits that amplify the ego and further your connection with unity.
With ritual in your repertoire, no longer can your ego assign needless and hollow identifications to temporal forms. With intentional, intelligent practice you begin to pierce the veil and see through all the noise and chaos. No longer is your discomfort, anxiety and indecision disguised in forms that you can't understand. All disorder and destruction becomes clear in the light of awareness. Mental images meant to keep you static, secure, separate and locked in familiarity.
Finding your rituals is finding yourself. Over and over and over again. You then see the truth underneath it all. You're able to accept the situation, the feeling, the intensity and be present with it. You accept the energy and let it fuel and stimulate your action. Only through acceptance and awareness can you take proper action that serves your divine purpose.