When we consider awakening and higher consciousness, we tend to view it as evolutionary, progressive and a goal in itself. It is all of those yet there is more to it. You may have heard the Zen saying, “Before enlightenment, I chopped wood and carried water. After enlightenment, I chopped wood and carried water.” As awareness expands, life can become more meaningful and happier. Compassion can expand and judgment can dissolve. Yet the soul in a body on the planet will not escape experiences of grief, sadness or the unexpected glitches that can puzzle or dismay. Appliances break down, vehicles need attention, loved ones transition and we mourn their physical presence, children follow their own path in their own way, etc.

The gift of awakening and higher consciousness lies in the opportunity to open to the higher frequency that is available to us to deepen into the frequency that you came in on and the choice you get to make about how you perceive life and the world right now. You can place your attention on the horrors and tragedies that are occurring, you can feel anger, hopelessness and fear, as if humanity has no power to change the course of planetary devastation, terror and violence that we’re witnessing; and that has come to a point where powerlessness and despair are so high that it can feel as if nothing can be done to transform the chaos.

For some of us the solution is not to escape or make preparations to survive the worst, nor is it to return to a model of living in a community that worked in the past. Some of us are being called to create in ways that honor the ancient lineages while acting as bridges to the future. When things dissolve into chaos, it breaks ground for the transmutation, transformation and true alchemy to occur. We can no longer ignore those events and actions that are rising up to be seen and acknowledged. However, we can gain a profound understanding that this is not the “end” or a time to battle against what is “wrong.”

It is, rather, a time to acknowledge and embrace who we are so deeply that our light alone can allow us to experience our own wholeness and the true, creative power that we are here to share to help others become whole. Ultimately, this returns our planet to wholeness.

What I’ve come to realize is that we are whole. We are not broken. We are here for a particular reason at this time in history. There are various frequencies or vibrations available to us that support all of who we truly are, on every level and every field.

However, our habit is to pay attention to, and thus feed and grow, the shadow side of collective consciousness. We are most familiar with what we view as negative and wrong. We were trained and taught, through our life experience, to box away any feelings, emotions or confusion that was uncomfortable, shameful or embarrassing. Often we accepted judgments or criticism imposed on us by others as true, even if we didn’t believe it. We had no way, at the time, of holding our power with certainty, knowing without a doubt in our core, that the opinions and viewpoints of others were not correct for us. In fact, we can carry ancestral patterns in our bodies that influence us in the same way.

Beyond that, we are actually carrying the shadows of collective consciousness, beliefs and judgments that aren’t even always logical, and fears that can overwhelm and paralyze. Confusion results. Our habitual mode of operation is to remain in the comfort zone, telling ourselves that we can’t make a difference or that our efforts have no meaning in the big picture. We experience this in many ways, both on the personal and professional fronts.

Ask yourself the following questions:

• Are you able to make a decision with certainty and follow through no matter what?
• Do you feel a sense of worth just because you are you?
• Do you experience a sense of acceptance and deep love in relationships, including your relationship with yourself?
• Do you have clarity about when and how to help others and when others are meant to travel their path in their own way, in their own time?
• Do you have the confidence, trust and deep faith… absolutely knowing that you aren’t alone EVER?
• Can you take inspired action that you just know is right for you, no matter what anyone else thinks or says?
• Do you take inspired action without an attachment to positive feedback from others… but just because you know you must take it for yourself and your life?
• Do you avoid time alone to just be with yourself?
• Do you base decisions on past results, thus stopping yourself from experiencing real life transformation?

We have an affinity for all that is living in the shadows of collective consciousness, yet that consciousness is whole. We’ve just had the habit of placing attention, feeding and giving importance to the shadow. We live in duality, in separation, in polarity… black and white, heavy and light, dark and light, bad and good, etc. As we buried that which we judged as negative, throughout our lifetime, we didn’t yet know how to just experience it for what it was and allow it to dissolve… to be offered to Source (the earth, God, the divine, infinite creator) to be transformed and used as only Source can do.

We are the ones who judge energy as bad or good, heavy or light, negative or good; in fact, it is just energy. By burying those things we didn’t have the capacity to understand and manage, we also capped our joy, our connection to Source and our deepest abilities to connect and help others.

It is a time to shift that habit. Transformation is not fuelled by willpower. It occurs through deepening your connection to your deepest self, by recognizing your power as a creator and fully owning that power by embracing the parts of yourself that you denied to bring them to light, and finally by sharing ALL OF YOU fully with confidence, clarity and passion. Your journey into the depths of who you really are is freeing. Experience your wholeness, assist others to experience their wholeness, and ultimately contribute to the new light on the planet that brings its wholeness into view as the divine has in store for us.

The focus and time that we’ve spent on maintaining our comfort zone in the shadows of collective consciousness take much more pain-filled effort than we realize. It’s a time to begin focusing on moving outside of our comfort zones so we can experience everyday miracles and connections beyond what we can imagine, yet with the innocence and wonder of our wide-eyed and most loving spirits, like a child.

You get to choose where you place your attention and how you spend your time. Commit to your Self to take the steps to change what you have said you want to change… in you FIRST. Know that you don’t have to know “how”… you just have to say “YES” to your deepest self and begin to take small steps to notice whether you are feeding the shadow or focusing on your dreams, visions and deeper questions, staying open to spirit’s nudges and clues. Remember, nobody else has to change to transform your life and your daily experience. Only you do. Your participation in the transformation is all it takes to live a life beyond your wildest dreams… and it will only assist others and ultimately, the planet itself.

Do your part to pull out of the shadows of collective consciousness and know that you matter. Not always easy, but much simpler than the familiar comfort zone, even if it’s not comfortable. You are a creator. Own that.