grateful soul

There’s the saying that “you don’t know what you have until its gone,” but sometimes it just takes you being the one that’s gone for a bit to help provide some clarity and perspective. When I decided to go abroad to work and study for two months, I expected to learn a lot, but I had no idea how quickly I would begin to discover more about myself. It has only been about two weeks in my new (temporary) home of Sydney, yet I already get the sense that I may have signed up for a summer intensive course with me at the focus.

Bronte Beach, NSW, Australia // June 2019

While I have come to realize a lot of personal things about myself, I have also come to generally find that there is something really refreshing in removing yourself from the routine that you know – it gives you freedom from the part of society that pushes for you to keep moving closer and closer to success. In fact, it feels a tad rebellious to seemingly “press pause” on the normality of what you have always known and to instead “press play” to a life completely unfamiliar. And, doing so does not impede on your track to success that it feels like you are escaping from, but rather it helps you better understand how to navigate that path once you return to reality.

For example, in being across the globe, living nearly a full day ahead of all my friends and family, I have experienced a deep appreciation for the people that I do have in my life. I often find it hard to display any signs of weakness, but I honestly have been feeling bouts of homesickness, since I miss my incredible sources of love and support back home. (Otherwise, Australia is really amazing and I would probably stay forever :) ) Being on my own has also naturally surfaced a lot of inner motivation and strength, which have always seemed a little more difficult to actualize back home. When you experience these types of feelings at least once, you begin to realize that you have it in you to catalyze them at any point in your life.

Bondi Beach, NSW, Australia // June 2019

While I might be experiencing a more extreme situation of solo self-discovery, I think there is something to be said about giving yourself space. When you are in the midst of life, attempting to make decisions, it can feel overwhelming. It is like deciding what lane you need to be in on the freeway – life isn’t going to just stop and wait while you make up your mind, so instead you feel like you have to make decisions quickly and efficiently as other cars whiz by. Allowing yourself to step back from scenarios, gives you the ability to truly analyze situations and make whole-hearted choices, knowing without a doubt they are the right ones to make. It takes getting out of your comfort zone to realize what your true comfort zone even is – the things and people that bring out the best in you, along with those that don’t make you feel the best.

The next time you feel like you need some clarity in a situation or maybe just want to challenge yourself to deeply seek what your heart desires, try adding a little distance. Sometimes it is hard to, especially since it seems like the norm is to keep moving towards things rather than away from them. But, I think it is time to release the misconception that distance is a negative aspect and that it makes it harder to achieve things. Because for me, pulling myself out of my everyday life and into a whole new society, has only made me more excited to go home and keep enjoying what I have come to realize makes me a happier and better version of myself. Taking time to discover your truth is invaluable in getting closer to your ideal future. Happy soul-searching everyone! :)

As we emerge into this transformative time of the year, as it is not only one week into the Jewish New Year for some, but also one week into the transition of the autumn season, it is important to look within and evaluate what we hope to shed and gain in our lives. I personally feel that setting intentions is important daily, but it’s even more imperative during a time when the universal energy is in high support of an evolution, be it at the level of the world collectively, or at the level of the individual soul. Recently, I have been introduced to a lot of ideas about the soul and its purpose, the art of envisioning your ideals and actually achieving them, and forgiveness.

I always find it funny that often times the themes of life overlap, meaning that we can learn about a new idea and then it begins to pop up in various forms in other aspects of our life. One of these ideas is that of living our lives guided by our soul, rather than giving into the distractions of what our body might desire. According to Ancient Greek philosophers, the secret to ultimate happiness and a good life, is to listen to the soul. Everyone’s soul seeks what is truly essential to life: love, wisdom, courage, and justice. However, to be given the opportunity to go on such an enlightening journey, we are given human bodies, which have other desires. The philosopher Socrates says that this is often why people are prone to mental conflict, as we have both our soul and our body’s desires fighting to beat the other out. This can be solved though when we separate the distractions of the body from the truth that our soul speaks.

In lieu of this time of the year where we look towards who we want to become and acknowledge the characteristics we want to leave behind us, the ancient philosophers give us perspective on how to be successful in achieving our goals. For those of you who are familiar with the Law of Attraction (the idea that when we emit positive thoughts we attract physical prosperity in our lives, and the opposite when we are negative), this is essentially an earlier version of this idea. Dating back thousands of years ago, the importance of envisioning what you wanted something to be like and then working your way towards it, was vitally important. This is the spirit that built the great cities that we now learn about in textbooks, but it is also the spirit that the philosophers believed could be applied to an individual’s life as well. When we conceptualize the version of something that we hope to reach, we subconsciously align our actions in a way that effortlessly leads to the realization of this image.

Another important theme that helps us move forward in our lives and let go of what is no longer serving us, is the concept of forgiveness. I think this idea is fairly well engrained into our society in the aspect that we are all aware of it, but that we do not always remember to apply it. Lately, I have been letting go of things that previously upset me and realizing that I may not have the power to reverse upsetting things, but I do have the power to give my energy towards the positive things in life and dismiss the negative. I think it is important to note that forgiving ourselves is also crucial. When we love ourselves and realize that we are human and make mistakes, we lift off a weight that disadvantages us in our pursuit of what we truly desire in life.

With these three points in mind, I encourage you to take some time and reflect on what you hope to gain in the months ahead. Looking back, what do you hope to release and fix in the future? As you do this, reminding yourself to forgive and not wallow in the guilt or upset that certain things may have caused you. Set intentions and visualize what would make you the happiest, focusing on the positives with the viewpoint that you hope to achieve them, not that you don’t have them currently. According to the philosophers of ancient times, setting goals of what you want will change your perspective, and in turn will cause you to naturally begin to act in a way that will lead to the ultimate manifestation of your hopes. Above all though, these desires that you wish to attain should be desires that in the end will place you further on your journey to ultimate happiness based on the soul. As you take this time to reflect, clear your mind and listen to your heart and soul, what does your soul point you towards? By acknowledging the deeper longings within yourself, you can help to subside the temporary requests of the body. Honor yourself and take this opportunity to reign in the generative energy in the universe to help jumpstart your own transformation into an even happier phase of your life.

Learning How Distance Can Bring You Closer to Center

Embracing the Essence of the Soul