The Phases of the Spiritual Journey

How exciting to see a spiritual movement in Owensboro! 

When I came home in 2009, this movement was non-existent. Evansville offered a small community of like-minded people into which I was welcomed with open arms.  That involvement allowed me to share my spiritual knowledge, practice and wisdom gained while living this path Colorado.  People seemed hungry for the information, eager even to be a part of whatever I had to offer. Yet, as quickly as they flocked to the opportunity, they quickly disappeared into the background again.  Why?

Before answering this question, you need to understand what being on a spiritual journey means. Unlike what many on this path believe or think, the spiritual journey isn’t an external experience.  The spiritual journey isn’t reading spiritual books by Eckhart Tolle, Wayne Dyer or Deepak Chopra; nor is it watching Youtube videos of Abraham Hicks, Tara Brach or Caroline Myss. It isn’t watching Gaia TV or wearing crystals or stones or meditating now and again when convenient.  The spiritual journey isn’t taking a class here or there or doing yoga a couple times a week or visiting your local metaphysical store. Before you throw your amethyst and black tourmaline stones at me, WAIT!  All these things are WONDERFUL and excellent tools used while on the spiritual journey; but please understand this important distinction:  these things do not constitute one being on a spiritual journey.

There’s a Christian song called “Undergoing the Change” that humorously talks about how wearing the WWJD bracelet and a t-shirt professing what one believes, and placing an image of a fish on your car’s bumper doesn’t make one a Christian; instead, it goes on to say while all that stuff is “well and good”, it’s how one lives one’s life that determines whether s/he is “undergoing the change”, meaning practicing and living their Christianity. Not unlike this example, the spiritual journey is indeed a journey within, not a destination. To practice and live in the spiritual journey, one must also undergo the change – meaning undergo deep inner spiritual healing work.

The spiritual journey is a deepening of one’s consciousness of WHO you are and HOW you live the WHO of who you are. It is an inner experience within which you travel to re-connect and re-member your soul essence, buried under the human experience gunk. The spiritual journey clarifies the vibrational difference between who you are as a spiritual being and who you are in the human experience. What determines the difference? The energetic vibration you emit through your thoughts, conditioned and limited beliefs, actions, words, and choices.  Our vibrations radiate either from ego or spirit. You can read Tolle or Chopra, carry every crystal Earth has to offer, and yoga your way through the week, but when you judge others, harbor resentment against those who’ve hurt you, or wallow in complaints or your story of suffering, or hold yourself in guilt, self judgment or arrogance, you are not being on a spiritual journey, nor living a spiritual life.

We are human, and we will make human mistakes.  The difference in this journey is you are CONSCIOUS of them, OWN them, and DO YOUR INNER WORK to shift that vibration. Every thought, word, opinion, attitude, action and behavior emit energy. What you think or say, quietly or verbally to yourself and/or others in complaint, judgment, criticism, hurtfulness, and intent; what you assume about other people with or without facts; and how your egoic pride lands in all of these examples exudes a vibrational energy from one of two sources: your Egoic Operating System (EOS) and/or your Spiritual Operating System (SOS).  The difference between being on a spiritual journey and being and living the spiritual journey is vast; and that gap reflects how shallow or deep we are willing to go into understanding the spiritual truth of who we are.

As to “why” everyone disappeared, people bail upon realizing that going deep within involves getting messy with their human shit –that “baggage” we tote around in the Egoic Operation System that keeps us safe and comfortable in what we believe about who we are. Mucking around in our Egoic crap doesn’t appeal to anyone because it means owning responsibility for their experiences, their current circumstances or how they are showing up. Many prefer the comfort and safety of the pain and suffering of their EOS.  Those practicing an external experience of a “spiritual journey” wallpaper their Egoic Operating System with the façade of “being spiritual”, (i.e., crystals, yoga, spiritual lingo and talk) without really being on the spiritual journey. They talk the spiritual talk, but don’t walk the spiritual walk.

There is no EASY BUTTON for the spiritual journey. The Spiritual Journey is an INSIDE job at a soul and egoic level.  That INSIDE job means going through your stuff: stories, resentments, and limiting beliefs to clear and heal old wounds, past hurts, and sabotaging patterns rooted in egoic, ancestral and karmic energy. This healing opens one's Light channel in order to live in higher vibrational energy. This work means you must be willing to look at your hard-wired truths about yourself, instilled by key figures in your life and your own Egoic-based personal experiences.

But hold on! Our Egoic Operation System doesn’t want to lose its job! Attached to keeping us safe, it DEMANDS control in the human experience, and the spiritual journey of inner healing work threatens the Ego: what we believe about ourselves; the willingness to be open and vulnerable; the idea of asking and needing help, and more importantly; surrendering the stories we’ve come to identify and wrap around ourselves like cozy blankets. Like a caterpillar morphing into a butterfly, breaking through the EOS to the SOS side isn’t easy. And we cannot travel this journey alone. We must be supported by a teacher, mentor or coach who has successfully traveled this thorny path to the other side. We need loving support to guide us safely through the initial phases of Egoic vulnerability as it yells, “Danger, Danger, Will Robinson!” We need someone to hold our hand when our Ego begs us to jump ship or leads us to the nearest exit ramp off the spiritual journey.  The Ego strives for control through self-preservation.

Taking your spiritual journey to the next level and its work takes great courage, trust and faith in yourself, your Spiritual Operating System, your spiritual guides, your spiritual teacher/mentor, and spiritual tribe as you go deep into the inner work. This support lovingly calls BULLSHIT when Ego attempts to throw you off course. Few people are willing to go the distance deep within themselves to clear their sub- and unconscious stuff to become conscious to the spiritual truth of who they are. Egoic fear pushes back against their attempts to recognize their Spiritual Operating System's offer of a higher vibrational way of living consciously and competently in the spiritual journey.  The superficiality of spirituality is an EOS strategy rooted in lower vibrational energy. To walk the spiritual walk requires a Light Chaser who has an inner knowing, a willingness and the courage to walk through to the other side of Darkness. Unconscious living is painful, but I’d choose the spiritual journey through Unconsciousness to become Conscious all over again, because it liberates us from holding ourselves prisoner in the Egoic Cocoon.

Consider talking your spiritual awakening to the next vibrational level and be willing to recognize, reveal and radiate Spiritual Light in this world being and living the spiritual journey!

Carolyn is offering Owensboro's first spiritual development program, 

the Empath and Intuitive Mentoring Program that supports those new to the spiritual path to go deeper on the spiritual journey of conscious practice and living. 

For more information and an application, please contact Carolyn at journeywisdomcoaching@gmail.com.  Program applications due April 27th. First class is May 4th.  

Marie Kondo, The Minimalists & Me

How much stuff do you have?  Clothes?  Shoes?  Knick knacks?  

What kind of things have you collected that is sitting around collecting dust?  

Or purchased products stashed for use later because they were on sale?

Shortly after losing my job, I watched a Netflix documentary called Minimalism about two guys who had it all: six-figure jobs, the latest techno stuff, gaming devices, lavish vacations, partying friends.  Then they decided they weren’t happy, so they quit their jobs and set out on a journey to finding happiness and a more meaningful life with a Minimalist Lifestyle. That involved selling or giving away all their belongings, keeping only what was essential and had a purpose, like a chair, a table, a toothbrush! They also decided to clean up their act with better diets, healthful practices, and better relationships that supported these changes.  And they also devoted their energy to promoting a movement and their story called Minimalism.

This documentary validated my guidance to put into motion what I had started: decluttering my life. Losing my job was a HUGE step in the right direction! When I began to evaluate my belongings, I felt suffocated, realizing how bogged down I felt by my stuff: clothing, sizes 8 to 2X, articles I’d worn, grew out of, or never wore with price tags still on them in the hope of “fitting into them one day.” I had a stash of Bath and Body Works products I’d bought on sale two Christmases ago that had gone from aromatic essences to stinky!  I also had TONS of Pampered Chef kitchen tools that I never used, used once or twice, or of which I had two or three that was taking up space in my cabinets and drawers.  I had six boxes of Christmas decorations – numerous strings of working lights, decorations collected since the 80’s, two or three tree skirts, oodles of cookie and candy giveaway boxes and bags, and countless spools of ribbons to make gift bows. And I don’t even have a Christmas where I exchange a lot of gifts with anyone! Then there were the boxes of file boxes of papers, journals, and writings, as well as countless folders from past classes I taught in Denver and Evansville.

Is that what people mean when they say they have baggage?  Not really but it’s a physical baggage that was weighing me and my energy down.  I started purging cabinets, drawers, closets, Rubbermaid bins, attic boxes, shelves, and any flat surface and wall for stuff I didn’t need, use, or want.  I sold stuff on Facebook, which was surprisingly successful, then did a yard sale which was a major flop due to a cold snap. The rest I donated to a local thrift store that sells and donates the profit back to local charities. That felt good to help the community AND to clear my life of over 200 articles of clothing!

I have more I would like to clear out of my life, and it is a process.  I’m not ready to let go of some sentimental items yet, but I’ll get there.  And with Marie Kondo’s help, I can really connect with what “sparks joy” as I move forward. I’m not going to the extreme of these Minimalists, and I sure don’t think I can live with only 33 items of clothing!(Project333.com if you want to learn more about that!)

• Did you know that clutter around you increases your stress levels, which lead to anxiety?
• Did you know that tolerating excessive clutter drains you of your energy?
• Did you know that when you make space – physically and mentally – in your life that you activate the Law of Attraction for greater and more meaningful things into your life?

The key is to ensure what you keep has purpose or “sparks joy.”  And be careful not to buy more stuff!  The goal is to attract more into our lives but in the form of experiences, money, opportunities, enjoyable friendships, and maybe, even a romantic relationship!

Clear your clutter, and you clear your space to breathe easier, have less things to deal with, less frustration when opening a closet or finding something you need. For me, it also means less dusting and laundry!!  Woohoo!

• What closet could you start with?
• What clothes could you share with someone who had to leave everything she owned to get away from an abusive husband?
• What kitchen items could you do without and offer to someone who lost their home to a fire?
• What do you want more of in your life that doesn’t sit in a closet, on a shelf, or in a box in the attic?

Start clearing away! Make Marie Kondo proud!