by Carolina Toledo

The beauty and art of being yourself. Who am I? A simple question that is, at the same time, complex to answer Not long ago, I heard a piece of advice from a well-meaning person who told me: just be yourself! Hearing the word “just” brought me to a feeling not only of ease but also of originality and authenticity. It was truly liberating since we spend our lives – I mean, I do; you do too – relating and putting ourselves in situations with the desire to fill our emotional voids, and what we finally achieve is to become very disconnected from our true essence. Such a provocation made me reflect and undertake an inner journey. Other reflections arose: what do I expect from life? What does life expect from me? To connect with your Higher Self is a kind of paradox, because you are always connected. In fact, it is more than a connection, it is a union, a reconnection. The fact is that being connected to yourself, to others, to creative doing, to your culture shapes a picture that identifies who you are. It draws a portrait and creates a narrative of your ecosystem, makes you feel part of the whole, gives this place to belonging. And it allows the flow of life. Mystery happens when we listen more to Consciousness, the voice of the Higher Self, and allow the manifestation of our divine, spiritual part. We evolve Which implies: connecting back our individual consciousness with its original source, the original essence, that which transcends all mental and intellectual attempts at understanding, but which is the essential nature of everything in creation . You are already different, I am different, we are unique and singular. Your and my awakening now will be to discover how and then to be more of that. There are some moments in life that lend themselves to change, I call them intervals of possibility. A global event like the one we are living through can bring a positive impulse in our life, because it makes us move, face our deepest fears, get out of our comfort zone, and review our worldview or paradigm. Chaotic events bring us the opportunity to put more order in our lives, to find who we truly are. To get the best out of times like these, it is fundamental that we begin to see beyond the material, the visible, to get in touch with the subtle. This is what I call spirituality, and I describe it as the capacity we human beings have to transcend matter, to go beyond it. The realization that we are not our body, our social role, our thoughts or our life story. This space of the deeper Self, where the wise, serene and peaceful nature we can call Essence, Divine Spark, higher Self. When we really connect with our Divine Essence and live according to its guidelines, which come to us through Intuition, we begin to have a life full of meaning, of significance. This spiritual awakening is a process of expansion of individual consciousness, which begins to recognize its origin, its absolute connection with the All, and that we are all One… This is what is being asked of Humanity now: Awakening to Healing.