I’ve never been afraid to change course in my life when I didn’t feel I was traveling the right path, but that didn’t mean I always chose my next path from true alignment. Up until about 5 years ago, I’d learned more about what doesn’t resonate with my soul than what does. You see, I didn’t trust myself enough to listen to my inner voice. I was a card carrying people pleaser and societal box checker, yet had a huge independent streak and a hunger to live authentically.

After realizing the boxes just weren’t for me, all I wanted was to break free of expectation and live life in alignment with my intuition, as a vessel for service. I read books, took courses, and learned lots of techniques to get out of my head, but I kept ending up in a frustration loop. I lacked the understanding that what I was seeking wasn’t somewhere out there, it had always been inside me and was my connection to source/love. I know, it sounds cliché, because that’s on repeat in every course and book out there. So why wasn’t I integrating what I was learning? It seemed like there was a critical step missing in the instruction manual I was writing for my life. And therein lies the answer… I was remaining in my head, applying the techniques by trying to think my way through my stumbling blocks. Am I doing it right?

Covid times did a number on me as it did so many of us. I lived in the woods, so isolation wasn’t totally unfamiliar, but I had been pretty social, and that disconnect felt lonely. And don’t get me started on the fear-mongering of the 24 hour news cycle! I finally chose to stop watching to connect, stop drinking to disconnect, and take another course. I found Anita Moorjani’s near death experience and miraculous healing story on YouTube, and that was the beginning of my chapter of getting out of my head and finding my heart again. I watched as many near death experience stories as I could until I was convinced that God (a higher power, source-love…whatever you choose to call it) exists, love is the underlying fabric of our universe, we are loved unconditionally, and we create our own realities.

Finally, the concepts I’d been trying to live by (and failing miserably) became more than words and lofty ideas. I could feel my intuition growing deeper. I had to make some tough decisions, but I knew they were right for me. Now I’m more comfortable in my skin than I’ve ever been, I’m not afraid to say no, and I can find joy in the present moment. I also know that as long as I’m on this spiral of life, I’ll continually be confronted with my challenges. Though sometimes I may falter in my response, I know what it feels like to sense my intuition and I have more practice listening to it.

So this project is my way of paying it forward by providing a space where we can all work on living in alignment. It’s not a one and done process!

I have a master’s degree in sociology, which has given me a deeper understanding of how we have been misguided by societal expectations posing as the gatekeepers to belonging. We are communal beings, and we do want to belong, but belonging isn’t dependent on a fear-based stack of rules. The more we can expand our understanding that there are many more perspectives than the narrow few we’ve adapted to, the less we feel the need to control what’s happening around us to be comfortable.

You can make your external world to fit your vision of who you want to be, but it doesn’t feel aligned if your beliefs don’t support what you’ve created. The inner mind chatter will tear you down continually until you get to the core of those beliefs.

More of my personal journey will unfold through the journal entries as I talk about my old patterns, my lights in the dark, and how I have integrated some of the wisdom I’ve gained through the years.

TTS is a heart-centered community of folks whose collective goal is to be true to ourselves and shine our unique lights in this world. We chat about the pesky patterns and outdated or untrue beliefs that trip us up so we can transcend our old stories, cut the strings of expectation, and glide through life with more grace and clarity.

~Let’s get our hands dirty, shall we?