The 5D Shift Unfolds: Are you Hungry for Change? - Finding the Courage

Submitted by Open on Fri, 02/17/2023 - 05:42

I feel truly blessed to be working with evolving people in this great shift of consciousness taking place. Our lives are being challenged in the most profound of ways, in our careers, relationships and general living circumstances. Of course, it will invoke fear: every reason why not to step forwards will arise, as you push the buttons of those around you. But this is not the time to hesitate. Your soul yearns for vibrant change, for a new harmonious reality at one with all life. How do you summon the courage to step boldly forwards?

The Road to Nowhere - to "Now Here"

Most people I meet on the road have previously lived their lives in this limiting conditioning of society - which tells people what they should do, how they should think, what is 'normal' to consume, what they're capable of, and what they're not. We live in a logic based world that works on a complex system of rules - "If I do this, then I'll get that. If I don't obey the system, I won't get the things I think I need and want". It's so tempting to tow the line and live 'normal' lives, based on those rules that become deeply engrained within the psyche.

That's fine, in a way, as long as the system keeps working. Except it isn't working, it's breaking down. Just look at the situation in the political system for example. Who can you trust? Who can you vote for? More importantly even than this, is what it does to you inside - how it disconnects you from the natural flow, how it isolates you from the divinity of your true, Cosmic Self. Life can be so much more. We can live in the miraculous flow of the divine, with synchronicity clicking in all around us, where we're supported, loved and cherished, where every single situation conspires to reveal the majesty of you; where all your true needs are taken care of. This is the message I'm sharing on the road that so many people can feel as truth and are responding positively to in their hearts.

But here's the difficulty - even though people can feel this expansion through the work, even though they can literally touch the divine inside themselves and feel the bounteous wonder on our gatherings, afterwards, it's all too easy to slip back into that limiting box once more - family, friends, relations and work colleagues providing constant reminders of "who you should be" in their eyes - the old acceptable you; one which doesn't rock the boat, which doesn't cause them to have to question it all too deeply. And so there's the risk of sinking back down under the surface of this strangling, constricting consciousness.

You can definitively change this repetitive story,
but first you've got to find the hunger for change.

Hunger for Change - is it a 10 yet?

Hunger for change is vital, because you've got to be prepared to step into the direction of your discomfort. Because when you stand up above the parapet, the old system and the old rules will try to shoot you right back down again. If you allow it to, it'll just keep on trampling right over you, inside yourself. It's no wonder that it becomes hard to read the signs and synchronicities in that kind of situation. And because people have read so much about 'acceptance' and 'surrender' in the spiritual mainstream, sometimes they get confused and accept anything goes. So you've got to be really hungry for change, to be prepared to take the knocks and the set-backs, but get right back up again.

You know the truth don't you? You really know how you want to live and be. In your heart, you know what does and doesn't serve your True Self. So don't settle for anything less. Take yourself out for a few hours and be bloody clear with yourself what's important to you and what you're prepared to commit to in order to get it. You've got to cultivate the divine masculine (the "ray 1"), which is every bit as essential as the divine feminine (the "ray 2") of acceptance and surrender - it's surrender to the truth that we're looking for, not acceptance of anything goes. (Check out The Soul's Purpose and the 7rays).

So this is a really important step. Take time out and be clear with yourself, on a scale of 1 to 10, how important is positive change to you? If it's not 10, then there's little point beginning to step forwards. Because the old system will keep pulling you back. Be clear with yourself, its a 10, and if not, then you may well find yourself slipping back into the old routines. 

If you do find yourself slipping back into the old routines, which happens to many early on the path, at the very least, do so in awareness. Crucially don't judge yourself. Perhaps you're not quite ready? That's okay - be honest with yourself, and above all, keep observing what does and doesn't serve. By bringing awareness to the problem, without self judgment, you'll progressively uncover the ties that limit and the internal keys to open the doorways. 

Ultimately you will find that big number 10 - that big bucket load of commitment.

So now you're ready for change. What next?

Surrender yes, but not acceptance of 'anything goes'

As we're sharing in the Openhand Breakthrough Approach, you've got to explore the profound truth of the moment - "this is how the situation is right now". You've then got to find the limiting doorway in the moment - your tightness. This is where you close down and resist the truth that you know in your heart to be real - "I really shouldn't have my head stuck in that not-so-smart-phone all day; I really should get out into nature; I really should give up that job and move to a different location; I really should confront those old patterns in my relationship, which are draining the juice out of life; I really should change my diet in a way that raises my vibe."

There'll be bags of tightness and subconscious resistance to this pull of the soul - the quiet inner voice. Because there'll be conditioned desires and wants that you think you should strive and struggle for: that better location; that you need this particular job or relationship to make you feel whole; that life won't possibly work if you give up that job. Let's be clear, the wholeness is already inside of yourself - the immaculate Cosmic Self, that needs or wants nothing, because it is everything. But all your fears stand in the way of it. So you've got to break into these fears by confronting and feeling into them - you literally have to step into the direction of your fear. In this way you honour it, and become as-one with it. Soon you burst the illusion that it always was. It's at this point, there's that immaculate liberation where you become "The One" in it. The fear no longer holds you.

But here's where I believe confusion creeps in again. And I see this in the spiritual mainstream. Just because you can find this eternal presence, and it feels whole and complete, doesn't mean there's nothing more to do. There's the illusion. Because when you touch presence inside, you're simultaneously touching the infinite potential of The One. Whereupon, the soul ignites, which initiates action inside of yourself. A feeling or a vision will come to you - "Be like this now, express like this, follow the pull in this direction".

What we also need to be aware of, is that when the soul kicks in, it's going to butt right up against all those reasons why not to take action. Because the soul truly confronts any limitations of the ego. And if you let it, if your commitment to change is not at 10, it will beat you right back down again. The True Self inside of you will dissipate, like the disappearing spot on a switched off TV screen.
That's why it's so important to be hungry for change, to be committed to change, to be courageous for change.

So here's the final part of the Breakthrough Approach then, the one that's so important in order to prosper on the spiritual path. You've got to be able to recognise the sense of the soul which is now igniting and give energy to it. You've got to pour fuel on the igniting flame so that it becomes a fire inside of you. How do you do this? What are you looking for? I'm reminded of a clip from Openhand's "Breakthrough" book...

A clip from Breakthrough

“So how do I live this now? Everything else seems so pointless. How do I exist from day to day?”

Just follow the pull.

“What, literally? All the time?”

There is nothing else but the flow of the Universe, which pulls through your heart when you let it. Or else simply fires as a knowing... “this is the way to go now.” The whole Universe is interconnected with just one purpose and aim - to reveal yourself to yourself; to reveal you, as the divine. And there is absolutely nothing else going on.

“But all the families, out there, the businesses and the schools, all the lifestyles - they all have objectives, goals and ambitions. What about them?”

They only think that’s what they’re doing. They have amnesia, believing life’s all about achieving some sort of goal, some kind of security or objective to make them happy. They’re locked in a kind of space- time warp - an eddy current disconnected from the flow. Yet even there, the light is flowing in, working to reconnect the dots, to bring wayward souls back into the loving embrace of the divine. Even these structures that people build in life contain reflections of the original light of the soul. Literally everything you see, and do, invites a deeper feeling connection inside. When you go to the shops, the school or the cinema, when you’re at work or commuting through the city, even when you have an accident in your brand new car, literally everything is speaking to you saying... “Look at yourself, see who you really are at the core of you - be that!”

“So I just follow the pull and live like that?”

Yes.

“But how do I make a living? How do I work, eat and connect with others?”

Everything that you need will come to you. Just give it a try and see.

I can’t say I was completely with it, but so far, this guidance had made far more sense than anything I’d ever experienced playing by the rules of society. So I sat there, at my desk and felt inside.

In the beginning it wasn’t at all easy. I expected to feel something, to see something or get some kind of message. But all I got was heaviness, denseness, and a busy mind that so wanted to fill the moment with thought.

Put your attention in your heart.

So I do. And sure enough, after a little while there’s a tingling sensation, which, as I continue to focus on it, builds as a warmth, which then seems to subtly spread through my body. Suddenly the phone rings, and the feeling immediately dissipates.

It’s what you’ve attuned your consciousness to. So like everyone else, you miss the subtle interplay in the space between the spaces.

I wasn’t going to be put off, so I ignore the phone, and when it eventually stops, I go back inside, feeling into the heart once more. The strange but comforting tingling and the warmth, is now spreading through my entire body again. I feel to let go. So I lean back in my chair and stretch my arms out wide. The movement means that I reach back into a beam of sunlight now entering my office window behind me, which warms my neck and seems to somehow connect with the heat inside. A thought comes to me...Why are you facing the computer when this feels so beautiful, so magical? So I turn myself around, and draw myself up to the window, the sun now able to embrace the entirety of me, lighting up my face in a golden warmth. Wow, this is amazing. Just a simple tingling, a very simple commitment to follow the sense, and now I’m literally basking in the sense of universal sunlight, warming my entire body.

Well I did tell you!

What now? A bird suddenly calls, as if to answer. I feel like a walk in nature, and even as the thought lands, a subtle pull is drawing me away from the chair. But what about the office? I’m thinking, and the emails, phone calls and appointments I have to keep? They just seemed so irrelevant at that moment. And even though my mind is struggling to let go, nevertheless I follow the pull, grab my jacket, and even though other colleagues are arriving for the day trying to engage me in conversation, nevertheless, I keep following the flow that now wants very much to carry me. “I’ll be back soon,” I speak over my shoulder as I hurriedly leave.

Now I’m out in the fields. It’s beautiful and expansive: intense blue of the skies reaching up into the heavens, vibrant greens of the grass, the soft caress of a gentle breeze on my cheeks. There’s no question, I just have to take my shoes off. And how wonderful that feels, squidging my toes in the dirt, feeling a part of the earth. Why does everyone stick their feet in shoes? I’m wondering.

Why indeed!

Get a copy of Breakthrough Here

Igniting the Kindling of the Soul

The soul will ignite as a subtle sense inside, often a quiet vibration in the beginning; one that easy to ignore in our busy distracting society. But it's these subtle feelings that are the kindling of the soul. And even if you're going to light a great bonfire, it will have to begin with the small kindling. Without which, it won't burst into flame.

So you've got to pay attention to the subtle feelings - this kindling. Feel in. Look for it. It'll be a sense of timelessness, expansiveness, joy, peace, love. But also excitement, passion, commitment, courage and will. When you can touch, and immediately recognise, one of these kinds of senses, that's when you got to pour some fuel on the fire. Get up, make some movement to that sense, make a sound (any sound that feels natural), put some music on and let it dance you. Do something creative, like paint or play an instrument or sing. One of the biggest challenges of society, is that people have become so repressed, so trodden down in their sense of themselves, of who they really are.


Now here's the thing, when you find an authentic sense of you, when you pour a little fuel on that kindling by bringing attention to the feelings inside you, they'll begin to grow, stronger and stronger inside until they become a raging fire. This fire becomes literally unstoppable, because whatever tightness and resistance get in your way, your soul will just burn right through it. And as you unleash soul, it is incredibly creative. All manner of opportunity and possibility will come your way. You'll be living in a flow of miracles and magic.

Right now there are massive growth opportunities within the field of spiritual facilitation. Because there are 8 Billion people out there in desperate need of change!
Do you have what it takes to be a healer, a way shower or a path finder? Because if you do, the flow is calling you...
Become a Spiritual Facilitator with Openhand
.

Healer heal thyself!

It's vital to recognise you can only unleash another to the degree you've unleashed yourself. So, what is it worth to you to be living in this way? How much are you prepared to commit - is it a 10 yet? Are you hungry for change? Because when you truly are, when you're prepared to really commit to the authentic sense of you, then the limiting box around you will begin to break and fall apart. You'll burn right through it. Then each step you take forwards creates a new, less limiting landscape, until its a flowing river through your life. This is truly living. So, your hunger for life, for the divine way of living.... is it a 10 yet?

Openhand can help you find the courage and commitment to change in this growing 5D Shift of our planet. Dive into our Ascension Portal every day for an inspirational uplift. Here's how you can engage with us...

Openhand Ascension Portal

Bright blessings

Open 💙🙏

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29/11/2023 Shift Update

I felt to draw attention to this article today about finding the courage for change, because our world is now changing rapidly around us. I'd say there's basically two ways of dealing with that (1) fear, anxiety and denial (2) embracing change as a power driver for life.

If we overcome fear, anxiety or denial, then the question becomes "how can I progressively innovate my life, so that I grow and meet the shifts taking place?"

Progressive innovation is the key - to witness myself in general living circumstances and ask: "how can I be more of me in that? The real me?"

If we hold the question and witness the reflections that come back, it presents the opportunity to see any internal resistance or tightness and unwind through it. New aspects of soul can then emerge more freely, and unleashing the soul becomes a real 'game changer'. 

So what can you innovate about you and your life today?
What behaviourisms might you confront and let go of?
What new possibility or risk might you take?

Just earnestly exploring these questions alone, I believe can lead to progressive evolutionary change.

In loving support

Open HeartPraying Emoji

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Every day the shift gathers pace and demands change to how we live our lives - so we can raise vibration progressively into 5D. Sometimes you'll know change is beckoning but lack the courage to do so. That's okay, it happens to us all at times. Even to a seasoned master on the path there will be grey areas of uncertainty. The crucial thing is NOT to beat yourself up about it. But then don't sink back into the shell either - keep illuminating the issue, keep exploring attachment to the old comfort zone.

And if you can't make the change in one leap, then look for the next step - that's all you need find: one step that takes you forwards and provides some momentum. The courage will build until you're at the point where the infusion of soul takes you to where you now need to be.

Today I felt compelled to share this article above...

The 5D Shift Unfolds: Are you Hungry for Change? - Finding the Courage

Do check through because I believe it will help you find the courage to change. And then check this popular Openhand video, "One Small Step" - it's all you need take!...

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Thanks Open. Your article was like a bugle call through the ether's new dawn. Very lovely, resonant and timely. Yes, chipping away when the going seems to get heavy and dense. keep the mobile off, don't keep checking social media, watch the screen time....little changes to break up my patterns which bring about invitations for new expression. I have realised that I have a tendency to consider a program, buy a course, engage in complexity when I felt a pull towards what I feel as my true essence. Then I feel bogged down, a bit stressed and demotivated. I've realised that this is an expression of fear, tagging and filing that true expression to be done later. These actions can feel like a step in the right direction, but can end up feeling like procrastination. However, as you say, I am aware of this tendency and I'm working through it, albeit very slowly. I certainly know the feeling of everything clicking beautifully into place through right action, synchronicity that makes me smile and even laugh. Funnily enough, having manifested all the free time I now have, I find myself occasionally questioning whether I should be doing more. I feel slight guilt occasionally and wonder if I'm becoming lazy. These days I do seem to need a lot of sleep and rest.

andy 

In reply to by Andy (not verified)

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Hi Andy - yes indeed, there's the need for a hefty dose of both patience and persistence on the path. 👍

First taking an approach you resonate with (like Openhand!), then being persistent with the practices on a daily basis - but also be patient with yourself that it takes time. I think sometimes it's easy to be derailed expecting big shifts because you've felt them before. It's the steady small changes in the old behaviourisms that go a long way and ultimately accumulate into the big shifts.

You're doing great having opened the space - well done. Now the key is to sit in it and progressively unravel the layers.

You prompted me to feature this article today that incorporates 5 Keys to making change...

How to "Burn the Boats" of an Out-dated Reality Construct...5 Key Steps

Well wishes

Open 💙

 

 

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Hi Tracy,

I'm with you on that one. The path caused me to give up everything - business, home etc etc, and on more than one occasion! The key is to really penetrate deep into the tightness this creates - in mind, body and field. Not to put on a brave face, or pretend the challenging situation does not exist - it does! Soften right into that, because as you do, you unleash the flow through you and the situation.

We need to realise something crucial...

We are NOT creating to succeed in a practical physical way. We are NOT creating to survive. Is the One trying to be practical or survive? Our tightness creates the perfect situation so as to expose the tightness. That's the point - the soul creates these choke points so as to feel where it gets lost. Therefore don't try to get rid of these situations or push them away - you'll only create new ones with the same patterns! Instead, let the situation create itself, but then watch keenly your contraction in it. Work into the contraction, express it deeply - especially the fear. Until you tire of the fear and realise no situation can be as bad as being stuck in that tightness. When you accept the situation to the degree you don't need it to go away, by fully immersing yourself in it, then paradoxically, it can no longer hold you and dissolves of its own accord. Then the flow gathers again but in a different way. The threads of consciousness will weave together to create new patterns and circumstances. Creation happens around you.

Wishing you well.

Open Heart

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It's pretty much impossible to live in what I call a "muggle" society. It is pure torture. When you say everything you need will come to you while I believe that, it is still scary. Because of such pain and soul suffering my husband is about to quit his job at which point we will have no income and yet we still have bills to pay. We have done this before and it is not easy. We've been somewhat homeless a few times living life like this and it makes us outcasts of society. The pain is greater than the fear. The fear the comfort. Sometimes I ask why me? On this path but I understand. We are deciding in the next few weeks.

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I gave a notice period of 1 month before I leave the work. So that they would also be better prepared. That's what I innovated about myself today. It just doesn't seem my time's worth. I learned my lesson and its time to move on. But I'm continuing another one which is more flexible and worth my time. This decision didn't happen today but within some days and it emerged painfully out of the uncertainty in my mind. At one point I was accepting of the uncertainty and the lack of answers. Looking at it now it doesn't seem like a risk at all but I guess the need to have answers,confusion were the lessons I had to learn. 

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Hi Janjavi,

I empathise and feel for you. I'm glad you find this website like 'home' - that's what it's purpose is - it's meant to be like doorways into the energy itself.

You said...

I am literally dying for change. Deep down I feel I am more and my life need not be caged. But then, the relationships and the societal structure are entirely against the pull of my heart. They require me to bend and tow the line they have drawn. I literally feel I am suffocating, like dying a slow death. Somewhere, I fear the relationships ( of course very close ones). There are lot of 'what ifs' 

Have you been reading the Sirian Archetype? I'd say you'll see a lot of karmic reflections there. Particularly this exchange today... Confusing Empathy for Attachment in the Sirian Archtype

I think you'll find some big clues in that article and thread. Plus also, it's about working diligently inwards to 'unpack' the inner layers we find within relationships. Yes there will be fear about where that might lead - but you have to decide at some point that change is important for your soul - and that doesn't always mean that what we fear in the relationships, will actually happen.

I've also added something to our "Sword of Truth" inquiry this morning - you might get something from that...
What happens when you go deep within?

Sending love, wishing you well

Open Heart

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Hi Open,

I have read this post many many times, but every time it gives an unique angle of life and realisation to explore. And what warms my heart more often is I am literally pulled to this site and the article that is most relevant to the moment.

I am literally dying for change. Deep down I feel I am more and my life need not be caged. But then, the relationships and the societal structure are entirely against the pull of my heart. They require me to bend and tow the line they have drawn. I literally feel I am suffocating, like dying a slow death. Somewhere, I fear the relationships ( of course very close ones). There are lot of 'what ifs' 

My soul throbs, it kind of tells me authoritatively. It feels complete. Beyond any doubt. Actually, I feel I have only one choice at that moment, to follow suit :) 

My struggle is of letting go. My own conditioning is not allowing me to redefine and let go of the un-serving relationships. How and where to stop such people and relationships is what I am struggling with. 

I feel a certain sense of connectedness with you and the open hand community. It feels like home actually :) Thanks for helping always :)

May warmth of the soul light every path, 

Janhavi

 

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Hi Everyone - I felt called to bring attention to this very important subject today - how to bring about positive change in your life that connects you to the divine and aligns you with the flow.

To really go for it, there's got to be the courage and commitment or else the risk is to slip back. In the early days the commitment might only come from the mind - which is why "setting intention" often ultimately fails. It all has to come from true awareness. Which can only happen by breaking into the subconscious limitations, deep down inside.

So when you feel a pull to change something, the key is not to try to intentionally manifest some desired outcome - because this usually comes from the ego.

Instead, the Openhand Approach advocates stepping in the direction of the inner pull, but then focussing on what ever resistance comes up for you. Work into it using the breakthrough approach outlined above (in the lead article). Then you'll break down the limiting veils and the flow of the soul will become increasingly aligned within you - so now you'll start making choices of the Higher Self, ones which are aligned with the flow. In which case, progressively, you'll gather the resources needed and build a new consciousness landscape around you - one which is more harmonious and aligned with your true self.

This leads to the true alchemy of change. Your life will become more vibrant and creative. You'll manifest exactly what is right for you.

Wishing you well

Open <3

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Same here Marye!yesyesyes

Thank you Open! 

Jen I am so right there with you. Thanks for putting yourself into your words - appreciate your mirror. 

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Just had the funniest idea...maybe charge more for a yoga class and give the vegan meal for free. There must be a way to find the space through it all.

If you respect the matrix too much it will limit...yes that hits home for me. I still allow it to box me in with fear of repercussion. hmmm....thanks Open. 

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Hi Jen,

I feel for you indeed - having been there myself.

What I feel inclined to say is... "if you want to break the matrix, you do at first need to at least bend it!"

This clip is a metaphor, yes. However there's great truth in it. If you respect the matrix too much, it will limit...

Open <3

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Hitting some walls here! There are all these ideas of how I might expand what I am offering - how I can be of service and utilize the gifts I have - share more of what brings me joy. Yet, at every turn it feels like I need a license which will either take me through many years of expensive, not completely aligned education (masters in counselling) or whatever I make in a cottage style business (say for example prepping organic vegan meals for people) will be eaten up in fees to work in a licensed kitchen - it's incredibly frustrating! Everything I move toward has all this red tape there to "protect" and I am urged by others to protect myself from being sued for just about anything. It feels like this beautiful, enthusiastic, creative energy that runs into grey sludge covered concrete slabs. IHonestly I then just turn away from it all because it's just so challenging to come through that. And yet, it seems I am invited to find a way through it. Some way to engage in the mainstream world - somehow  get all the boxes checked and still maintain a sense of freedom in it.  This is my creation - I know...perhaps the parts of me still attached to ticking the boxes and fear of being held responsible. At this point - I am just wiping it all clean and asking the universe for guidance. There is plenty I can offer right now as I am without anything additional - so for now I apply myself to that! Thank you for this great article Open!!

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Hi everyone - I felt to bring attention to this article again today, to remind ourselves to continually innovate our lives so as to embrace the engine of change. Then well grow beyond measure...

Remember: In a Universe of constant change, change is the only constant!

Open smiley

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Cathy, thank you! To me it looked like you blessed your anger in your own unique way by riding that car!

Yes I agree, anger is viewed as negative and ‘bad’ in most spiritual circles/society etc and I was in one of those circles for some time. But one has to have their own mind and way – just like you do Cathy! – to change things for oneself and to not conform! So, I stayed with the circle for a bit but did it my way :) The whole process was a roller coaster :)

For me, the challenging part is that others don’t accept anger etc – that’s the difficulty – because they believe it’s wrong, bad etc etc. A big part of my work is opening this window for people: emotions (E-Motion) are energy, they move, dropping labels/interpretations/beliefs etc and opening up to the rawness/animality of experience where everything moves - inner and outer!

Yes, I’m with you on processing and expressing anger wisely because it is a powerful energy that can construct or destruct. This navigation, I feel, is an art form indeed and we are all in the process of mustering it (not mastering…)!

Oh, existential philosophy had been a big love of mine and indeed as you described, I too for a while travelled down the lane of ‘whether life has any meaning’. The funny thing was that because of this I became well, mmm an artist... Dance, collections, photography, writing, research (for me this is an art form) etc. And we are all artists!

Yes, indeed, Pink Floyd’s song is fantastic! Though I definitely prefer Ola Bienkowska’s voice and presence – Epic!

Deep bow to you Cathy. Xx

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Powerful version! Wow! Wow! The howling wolf and Pink Floyd. Cathartic release of so much pain and agony. Up we go. Higher and higher. Thanks, Open!

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Great Gig in the Sky - yes, now you're talking, powerful emotions transformed into passion and the hunger for change (do wait for Ola Bienkowska to start singing!)....

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Aspasia!

My head spun around when I read that you bless your anger. Thank you for that. It helps me to more fully accept my own anger. Anger can be a tricky business and is generally viewed as 'bad' in our society and in many spiritual circles. For too long I preferred a false Love/Light bubble over feeling anger. The challenge for me now is to process and express it without putting a bunch of loaded negativity out there. I'm getting better.

A jewel, indeed, about Munch's painting. I have known many who have gotten lost in the maze of existential philosophy, continuously pondering whether life has any meaning. Yes, indeed, when the props go, it can be a tremendous incentive to dig deeper.

I love how the film-maker connects Pink Floyd's song, Great Gig In The Sky, to The Scream. Deep bow to artistic souls.

x Cathy

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Yes soul sister, and so are yours!

When I feel anger I bless the energy because it is SO profound and powerful! As you say it is the fuel of passion as it transmutes to right action.

I tend to occupy the front lines of activist work on my own, so that I speak my own truth - so I understand the sense of freedom arising from withdrawing from the front lines - one becomes more oneself without imposed boundaries.

Love the animated film Cathy! Thanks for sharing! It captures the existential angst of our times! Oh, I wish I could join you in your car rides! Yes, yes, yes!

You may be interested in this jewel that I dag up: an art critic commented about Munch's painting as follows: "It presents man cut loose from all certainties that had comforted him until that point in the 19th century: there is no God now, no tradition, no habits or customs - just poor man in a moment of existential crisis, facing a universe he doesn't understand and can only relate to in a feeling of panic". So true. Anthony Giddens, a sociologist also talked about the same existential angst of modernity and the loss of ontological security and trust - very interesting!

Blessed be your adventures Cathy! love you. x

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Cathy, I find your passionate and committed undertaking SO inspirational! Thank you!

It speaks to me about the difference between sacrifice and compromise...And I feel to share this in response to your sharing:

I will sacrifice myself (needs, wants etc) for the good of others, for their freedom, for my highest purpose. Here, there is peace and taking a stand and the marvel of expansive, dynamic change.
But will never compromise my soul, never lower my standards, never silence my voices for this is where frustration breeds guilt, fear and unhappiness - the death of dynamic change.

Much love x

In reply to by Aspasia

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Aspasia!

Clearly, we inspire each other! Whoaah! Your words are full of power, courage, passion, compassion, and commitment! I feel you, soul sister! Thanks for weighing in.

I'm intensely angry about the deceit, betrayal, and disrespect I dropped into recently. I'm allowing the anger and pain, witnessing it, honouring it, processing it. The intensity is so much bigger than it 'should' be and feels like life and death issues from past life trauma. Resonances of prior incarnations. My anger is fueling my passion to keep expressing what feels right. Withdrawing from the front lines allows me more freedom to express my truth, unhindered by the constraints of official roles and hierarchy of power. Ha! They thought they would beat me down and silence me. Fuck that! But what a mad, mad, crazy world 3D is!

This short, animated film of "The Scream" captures how I feel about the robotic insanity that abounds everywhere I look. My salvation these days lies in driving alone in my car down secluded roads, windows rolled down, pumping up the volume, screaming and moving wildly to emotive music.

https://youtu.be/Rdfwxog_8l4

x Cathy

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Good to read this again, Open. With regard to a recent undertaking full of passion and commitment, I took a risk and stepped up and out with a pure and zealous heart to help realign energies that had run amuck. A few didn't get or appreciate my vibe. They did their best to silence and beat me down. In the process, I managed to nix some real red-neck discrimination and advocate for justice where a few marginalized folks were concerned. Makes my heart sing that I was able to successfully set things 'right' for them.

Although I have withdrawn from the front lines where others fight for power and the limelight, I'm standing in the background, continuing to express my truth. I'm so over being silenced, accommodating 'anything goes'. It's exhausting though to stay the path of light in a world where ego and exploitation run wild. I'm highly imperfect, too, but I'm vigilant about monitoring the purity of my intentions to get back on track when I go astray.

Jenny's line from Forrest Gump comes to mind. "Dear God, make me a bird. So I could fly far. Far far away from here."

I take heart from your article. A welcomed blast of courage.

Burn baby burn.

Thank you.

Cathy

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How can i be hungry for change when life is just about comfortable ,there's always food on the table and my cozy bed to sleep in and everything feels certain for now. And also the fact that there's nothing really 'i' can do to commit to change. Only one way or the other seems to really work for me ,either i'm committed to some particular goal even when it seems only temporally or there is this acceptance that i just have to keep on going and feeling all the while being aware. I like being motivated ,to feel the warrior energy inside myself but only when attached to something. I wish if there was a practical thing i can do to be motivated all the time even if there's nothing particular to do. Even while writing this it occurs to me that this frustration is what i really have to feel. The frustration of being stuck , to find that nothing is really moving as i want it to be. Resentment that i cant find the right words to express myself freely that it gets stuck on the way out. I like to be assured that even while i'm stuck i'm actually progressing but then i look at countless mindless people and see how are they going round and round and reaching nowhere and i'm afraid for myself. I hate to admit this but i'm afraid to change too, to leave behind everything. Life is limiting yes but it's comfortably limiting. I need a sign board that says this way to go now and i will take it. Sometimes i think i can take the extremes of feeling but not this numbness. I want to be assured i'm alive and kicking. Also i feel i don't want to do anything with my feeling. I want to rest with it and feel it fully rather than do anything with it. Because doing sometimes feels like efforting and it does nothing but to take me out of the initial feeling. I have been feeling into the pelvic tightness sometimes it vanishes and sometimes it comes back again but now it feels the pain has flowed outwards from that specific point and its all over the lower region. And always the answer is to feel it deeply. Open you say in the 9 step spiritual approach to express the pain with music or something similar but nothing of that sort works for me. Its always the less glamorous stuff that feels right.

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The Box I have used that description many times over the years and recently challenged by it again . After all my work on myself I found in a matter of days the beckoning of the Box and controlling who I allow to disrupt my inner self to an extreme of reacting without thinking. I have often talked to friends and family about circles and defining them and in one day because of allowing contact with one person I found myself in complete turmoil and reactive . It's taken several days to redefine myself and reassuring my inner self that it's my entitlement to move the circles out of reach and recenter myself peacefully without judgement. Thanks so much Open

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Do let us know how the talk goes - just come from your passion and it will be awesome no doubt.

Much love

Open *OK*

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"a great reminder of the need to break out of the bogginess of the old habits and patterns, and commit my energies to seeing, feeling, smelling, tasting life."

Brilliant Mark - light the way!

Open *OK*

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Open, another inspirational article. Since my connection with Openhand I have made major changes affecting career, relationships with others and myself. But the path of self-realisation is not a tick list, and is an ongoing commitment to life change.
This year has been a constant pull between dealing with the society norms, such as supporting family, having a plan for what I should be doing next in my life, planning to move to a new area. I get lots of well meaning advice and see old habits repeated of wanting to keep others happy. Of course it is easy to know I am doing this as I feel the tightness. It is then that I need to get out into nature and meditation, stepping back and when I get an authentic guidance it comes with a lightness and energy.

The article is a great reminder of the need to break out of the bogginess of the old habits and patterns, and commit my energies to seeing, feeling, smelling, tasting life. Mark

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Wow! I feel like this article was posted specifically for me. The commitment to change and having the old patterns, routines, family/coworkers, pulling me back down into old constricting consciousness is where I am currently at. Thank you for this article. I needed a spark today.

warmly,

Ariel-

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Open, this is a wonderful article.

I know so well the view from a jet, looking down on the boxes and rectangles and how diametrically opposed that is to the spherical essences of the Universe. There is an old Indian saying: "there is no power in a square". The energy can't flow, it bumps into right angles, it stagnates. It's a kind of prison.

I climbed out of the box in stages until one day my spirit just couldn't be contained any longer. I had been dancing in the box, out of the box, in and out, out and in, and one summer night my friend Michael Raven Horse said to me: "you can't have your feet in two canoes". That arrow hit its target :-)

love, tigger

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Well I'm glad I caught your attention Cathy and Marye.

Even commenting on an article of chain of thought that you resonate with can be enough to ignite a feeling inside. That's why I encourage people to share their feelings as much as possible. It seems small, but it lights great fires.

Keep on burning guys!

Open *OK*

In reply to by Open

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Tigger, I'm revelling in your comments about the constricted square and the two canoes. I have an image of having one foot in one canoe and the other in a second canoe, trying to straddle both, and falling flat on my face into the water. So not possible! Trinity, yes straight roads are such a drag! Straight jackets, really!

It's always about the feelings, ain't it?! Thank you for that reminder, Open. When I first read your articles on OH back in 2013, I was always drawn to your comments around being awesomely okay with whatever shows up: no judgment, no resistance. At the time, I wondered how that was possible. Now three years later, I have a growing sense and feeling inside that one can indeed stand and witness horrendous cruelty and still find the light beyond it and at the core of others. Because that is our true essence. It feels more and more that I can be completely brokenhearted, tears streaming down, and yet still feel compassion and love for all the broken souls.

Trinity, several years ago you said to me that the One is in everything but is not those things. And that we get whatever we need to remember who we truly are. That feels truer and truer everyday. Being present in everything beyond judgment identity. Everything and nothing.

Talking about burning through our impurities, I have been invited to speak at a local group about transformation as in the phoenix rising from the ashes. I plan to talk about Openhand's nine step process and my journey with embracing and refining these steps. I would like to include a link to the nine steps on this forum so if you can point me in the best direction, I would appreciate it!

Much Love,

Cathy

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An amazing article, Open. It seems to have spilled out of you as you soared through the heavens from the east coast to the west coast! Now that's cosmic perspective looking down on all those little boxes that stifle our souls. Perhaps one day my writing will flow as freely as yours when my intellect stops nitpicking: that darn ego that wants to get it perfect and right!

My eyes alighted on the beautiful photo above of the adaptable dragonfly with its shimmering, translucent wings and its magical ability to change colours as it flits ever so lightly through the air after emerging from the waters and taking flight. Our delicate, little friend speaks strongly to my soul about our ability to adapt and express the seven soul rays to whatever experiences we manifest. And about continually committing to infusing the light of our souls through the contorted, emotional blockages that we experience so we can lighten up and flit about, unfettered and free. But that doesn't come easy as Ringo Starr sang.

You're challenging us to put a number on how hungry and committed we are to change on a scale of 1 to 10 no matter what shit we encounter. It all feels extremely heavy and dense for me right now. I've been feeling into some pretty horrific, past-life karma recently. I am committed to finding the light beyond the twisted, misaligned raptor consciousness that inflicted such unfathomable, cruel suffering. I am staring it in the face, feeling like I'm gradually seeing the shards of light filter through the doorway. But at times, I feel like escaping from the profound sadness and empathy I feel for all those who suffered. Bit by bit, I'm finding compassion for the perpetrators, too. As I let go, my heart is getting close to 10. When I get there, I'll fly away with the dragonfly and we'll shimmer in the sun.

x Cathy