How many of you have been feeling
stuck, unsettled, or anxious,
waiting for the day when you feel peace without regret for the past
and worry for the future?
How many of you have felt like
you must have some purpose,
but you don't feel aligned with it?
And you're not even sure what it is?
Maybe you have a religious faith that you practice, and you believe in the core of it, but you suspect you may not be doing it correctly. Because deep down, you were expecting to feel more peace by now. Maybe you even justified the lack of peace in your mind by convincing yourself that you will only get it in the afterlife.
Or maybe you aren't religious at all, but you suspect there's something bigger out there, and that it may hold some key for you and what you should do with your life. Except, it feels elusive, and you have no idea how to find it.
All of these feelings are questions are indications
that you are disconnected from your soul journey,
and that you may be in need of a spiritual journey.
But what exactly is a Soul Journey? And how does that differ from a Spiritual Journey?
What is a Soul Journey?
A Soul Journey is the reason that I am on this Earth, what I came here to experience, learn, and share with the world.
It is the customized path that either I laid out for myself in the spiritual realm before incarnating on this earth (more on that concept later) or, if you'd rather, that God laid out for your life on this earth. Because we have free will, we can deviate from our Soul Journey,, which causes us to feel Soul Dissonance -- that uneasy feeling that something is not quite right, that you are not living the life you are supposed to, that you are meant to change something or do something else. That doesn't necessarily mean you should quit your job and leave your relationship, but it could mean that you need to course correct.
In the spiritual realm,
pain is purposeful.
If you are feeling pain (including persistent discomfort), there is something you need to address/change.
Conversely if you can align with your Soul Journey, then all of the things in your life, both the good and the bad (and yes there will still be bad stuff) are in service to that journey -- experiences for you to learn and grow from, for the higher good. It is where peace lives. And to access it, you need to be in tune with yourself and your divine guidance, which is really hard to do when you've spent years suppressing/ignoring it, and your ego gets in the way, and your mind is noisy all the time.
But it can be done!
What is a Spiritual Journey?
A spiritual journey is a journey designed to increase your spiritual understanding/ facilitate your spiritual growth.
It is a journey that can help you quiet your mind and reconnect with your higher self and the Divine all around you, so that you can learn to hear the guidance again. And also so you can learn to live in the NOW, and experience the peace of divine gratitude and purpose and the joy that can be found everywhere.
It is a journey that can help you discover and follow your Soul Journey, but also can help you to optimize your Soul Journey -- to begin to recognize the Divine Connectedness and how you can contribute to the higher good of all in an ever-expanding way. It is the path to Enlightenment, toward experiencing Christ Consciousness (the highly ascended, God-connection that Jesus came to Earth to demonstrate for us), to remembering and reigniting the Divine within ourselves (because, as Jesus said, the Kingdom of Heaven is within us). It can be any or all of that -- it is up to you.
If this piques your interest...
I'd like to share a little about what led to my spiritual journey and how I came to understand the importance of both journeys and their interrelation:
Let me start off by saying that this is not a religious thing.
For most of my life, and quite independent of church, I have intuitively believed in the existence of the Divine, in terms of there being a beautiful intelligence to the universe, there being magic and systems and natural laws that we don’t fully understand, and about us having a purpose in being on Earth. I felt that every time I was deep in the autumn woods, or sitting in a grove of aspens on a mountainside gazing out over a river valley. I felt it when synchronicities happened just in the moment I needed them, followed by chills cascading down my body. Maybe some of you can relate!
I certainly felt it when I was given inspiration to write certain stories that spilled out of me as though the characters existed in another dimension (maybe they do!), and I was merely their scribe, like what happened when I wrote A Whisper of Smoke and also Missing Pictures.
But I also experienced dissonance with my particular religious upbringing. And I was frustrated. It felt like the years were tumbling past while I kept waiting to feel more at peace, living in this kind of stressful limbo. And that peace never came. I needed a major change. I felt strongly that I needed to seek answers, and that I needed to be open-minded in my search for answers in order to try and understand more about my purpose on Earth, and how to actively engage in that.
I wanted to know what my Soul Journey was
(even before I clearly understood the concept of a soul journey),
so that I could have some kind of chance to follow it.
And that’s when I realized – in order to understand my soul journey, I needed to go on a spiritual journey. The problem is, going on a spiritual journey can be scary, because it can stir up feelings of fear, guilt, or shame. So that was one of the first things I tackled on my own spiritual journey by asking this question:
Is it okay and safe for me to question my spiritual beliefs and purpose?
Because I am also a very logical accountant and not just a right-brain novelist, I approached this evaluation from a spiritual perspective but also from a science (quantum physics), and from a logical perspective as well. And guess what?
The answer is, YES, it absolutely is okay and safe!
I have a separate blog post on the topic for members of the Novel Connections Spiritual Journey Group. The link is below:
Since then, I have been on a heck of a ride! I've been learning more and more every day, and as I do, my anxiety lessens, my mind stills, and I experience increasing moments of peace and grace.
These are some of the unexpected benefits I've been experiencing:
Feeling more connected to the Divine and to the Earth, including all its creatures,
Clearing old wounds and limiting beliefs;
Opening my heart more to love and joy;
Quieting my mind through meditation practices;
Expanding my understanding of energy and the power of vibrational thought and intention;
Developing communication with my Divine Team (my guides, guardian angels, etc. who are in the spiritual realm just waiting to help me on my Soul Journey!);
RELEASING MY FEAR AND DOUBT; and
FINDING PEACE AND GRATITUDE EVERY DAY
There are so many interesting discussions about spiritual journeys that can be had, and I'll confess that I'm feeling that Divine Spark compelling me to write about them! However, because it is not directly related to my novels, I’ve decided (for now, at least) to save those more in-depth discussions for those of you that are interested in contemplating and maybe even embarking on your own spiritual journey along with me, and will keep it mostly separate from the book blog and newsletter discussions (except for when it crosses over from time-to-time).
So here's an Invitation:
If you are interested in exploring a spiritual journey alongside me, I invite you to join my separate group, Novel Connections: A Spiritual Journey. I am not totally sure how it will manifest just yet, but I know it will include some divinely inspired blog posts on spiritual journey topics as we build a forum for respectful, light-inspired discussions, questions, and connections.
You can sign up at the web-page link below:
It is my hope that in sharing what we learn on our spiritual journeys, we will each discover our individual soul journey and unlock the secrets to following it! How great would that be?
I would love to hear your feedback and reactions to these thoughts and concepts in the comments below! And if you enjoyed this post, please like and share!
If you are interested in or are on a spiritual journey and are interested in the books and other resources (so far) that have most helped me, click on the link below:
Note: Some of the links above may be Amazon affiliate links. If you use them to purchase products from Amazon, I will receive a small commission from Amazon with no incremental cost to you.