Consciously Being
One thing I have always struggled with is connecting to the duality of being. On one hand, it’s so easy to become caught up with life, to get lost in the day-to-day highs and lows. On the other, I often find myself contemplating what the point of it all even is. Our consciousness is such a vast, infinite, beautiful being and I’m stuck experiencing .0005% of it through this lens of Hely. How can I be possibly be satisfied when I know there is so much “more”.
Being human means being here and the trick is to ride the highs and lows whilst relishing in the beauty of the experience. Being human is being fragile, being human is being raw, its real, its beautiful but damn it’s not easy, is it? The state of being is not something we are or something we have, it’s something we are constantly working on to help us navigate through a constantly changing world.
As humans, we spend far too much time doing things on auto-pilot and we tend to get stuck in loops. 2022 was the year I decided to make a conscious effort to break out of my loop and live life on my terms; thus starting my journey of consciously being. Consciously being to me means being authentic to myself, knowing my boundaries, knowing my desires. It is doing every act with love and respect for myself.
Last month, I quit my very stable, very secure corporate job to walk a path that better aligned with my soul. The decision wasn’t easy but I knew that in order to fully commit to my goals, I had to take the risk. Consciously being means letting go of the comfortability of the things that no longer serve me in order to make space for the things that will elevate me.
The next chapter of my journey technically starts in February (stay tuned) and the old me would have worked until the last second I could. Society has convinced us to measure our worth by hours of productivity and dollars earned so it’s no wonder that my initial reaction to quitting sooner was to be fearful of financial insecurity and not measuring up to what I ‘should be doing’. Consciously being means trusting that I will be okay and allowing myself the grace to relax when needed. This month, I have happily been referring to myself as retired. I know that I’m just getting started and am far from retiring but my point is that I am allowing myself to shamelessly relax and spend my days simply being and enjoying my existence.
While I know that having the time and privilege to live, quite frankly, as a cat is a luxury not everyone can afford; we can all integrate consciously being into our daily routines. Here are a few tips that have worked for me along my journey:
Journal! Or blog, or vlog but please get those thoughts out of your head and in front of you
Meditate!! My personal favourite.
Consciously bring your thoughts back to the present when you notice them drifting
I practice this while doing menial household chores such as dishes or folding laundry. Focus on being grateful for being able to do the task at hand or simply enjoying the moment. I was filled with gratitude the other day while eating an orange in the sun simply because I chose to focus on the beauty and luxury of that moment in time.
Spend time with nature ♥ it’s incredible what you learn observing the stillness of the trees or listening to the songs of the birds
M O V E M E N T: connect your mind and body. You don’t need to go to the gym or workout but talk a walk or dance silly to your favourite songs
Limit all media in general!
This was a tough one for me, I always had a show playing the background or was listening to a podcast but I realised that was all just a distraction from the noise in my head. It’s okay to watch TV or check your socials but be mindful. Examine the content you ingest and consciously spend your time with it.
Let me know the ways in which you integrate consciously being into your lives and what impact it has made. As always, I am not a professional but my inbox is always open to those of you that want to connect further.
Keep being unapologetically you and enjoy every damn moment of it.
Love,
Hely
