Agave Light
16” x 20” ~ Oil on Canvas ©Linda Hough
[ $547.00 unframed* ]
First, thank you to everyone who submitted questions. I’m going to jump right in, as I’m excited to begin this journey. After reading, please feel free to hit REPLY and send a question you’d like answered and/or send any comments to me.
Here is our first question:
In our fast paced world, that is constantly drawing us outside of ourselves, what are the practices you would recommend to us, to stay connected to our inner life, our soul’s calling. We can go to Google for everything these days and have stopped asking questions of ourselves inside. How do we find our way back?
Answer:
Who is the one that is asking the questions? Constantly distracting yourself from your soul’s calling is the not the work of the soul but of the entity known as the ego.
Within ourselves, there are many parts. Depending on the activity, different parts will take a more prominent role.
When you find yourself not doing what you truly desire to be doing or not feeling connected to your soul’s calling, ask yourself: in this moment, who is in charge here? Who is doing the choosing? On what basis are the choices being made?
Our days are fraught with distractions. We constantly let our attention wander away from what is truly important on a soul level. Google is a good source for answering questions of fact. Staying connected to the divine flow of information coming from your soul is a better guide to finding your way to living a more satisfying life.
Open Vista
20” x 24” ~ Oil on Canvas ©Linda Hough
[ $997* Framed ]
Key to this process is having a vision, at least an idea of what your soul’s calling is. When you know this, it is like a guiding light always calling you home. When a desire is strong and clear, and your attention is focused like a laser beam on your vision, distraction becomes a momentary pleasure you take from time to time to relax.
Following your calling though can be challenging. Often times it is not convenient or comfortable. Therefore we look find substitute activities to distract us from truly living our heart’s desire. We look outside ourselves for answers.
This works for a while.
Then the soul’s calling becomes louder, hoping to catch our attention. The moment we begin to pay attention, we begin a magical journey. As you rightly point out, connection to this source is the key.
Staying connected is just an awareness away.
Let’s say you have a deep desire to do something good for yourself, something you know your soul desires and/or something that makes you very happy when you do it. This could have something to do with your calling, or creating something, meditating, doing yoga or hiking, even working on a project for your business.
You think about this all day and are excited to commence the activity. But before beginning, you go to check your email and then, because one click leads to another, you get end up chasing answers to questions you didn’t even know you had.
The Decision (Detail)
13″ x 20″ ~ Oil on Canvas ©Linda Hough
[ $2,597* Framed ]
In the back of your mind, you hear your soul calling out to you: hey, didn’t you promise we’d get to paint, write, meditate (fill in your passion) now? What are you doing on that stupid computer?
Your body begins to feel bad, a sinking feeling that you are on the wrong path but somehow, you stay. It is comfortable and relaxing. You tell yourself: I don’t have enough energy to paint, write or meditate. You feel that you are not connected. You KNOW you are not connected.
Once you have this awareness, you are just one choice away from connection. It is only a matter of making an inner shift.
So the practice that I would recommend is this awareness practice.
1) First, have a guiding vision for your life.
2) Notice when you are not feeling connected to it. You may be feeling instead a feeling such as bored, frustrated, distracted, etc.
3) Notice what you are doing and then ask yourself: who made this choice? Is it the part of yourself that yearns to follow your soul’s calling? If not, what are you avoiding? What are you afraid of?
4) Ask yourself: what you would truly rather be doing? What is your heart’s desire, your soul’s calling in this very moment? Expand into the answer.
5) From the place where this answer comes you will find the connection you are looking for. Shift your attention, your feelings and thoughts to this place inside. Let this trusted source be your guide always.
The more action you take based on the answers you receive, the stronger the connection gets. The more aligned your actions are with your soul’s calling; the more fulfilled and satisfied you will find yourself.
Your answers will come, as you need them, from the place deep inside that knows you best.
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