Discover and Follow Your Soul’s Resonance
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[ First published November 21, 2016 ]
What makes you come alive? What moments feel like you are in resonance with your soul? When you are in resonance with something or someone you will likely feel like your whole body is a tuning fork being dinged against something and every cell stands at attention. You are fully present.
Growing up, I would always feel a deep sense of connection and aliveness when I would watch movies. Tears would suddenly spring to my eyes and I would lose my breath for a second. It felt like connection and magic. It was very similar the first time I logged into AOL and heard the bazaar sound of my Macintosh dialing and squealing onto the internet for the first time. I was trembling in my 15 year-old body and I knew, in that moment, that the world would never be the same.
Resonance is a visceral experience. I believe it is the language through which the soul directs our lives. Symptoms may include tingling, electricity, tears, loss of breath, and a profound sense of aliveness. Being in your soul’s resonance often feels like connection, awe, freedom, awareness of something greater than yourself, a recognition, and coming home. The trick is when this moment happens, and it does happen to everyone, slow down and take it in. What is here? If it points you in a direction, follow it.
The more random the direction feels, the more likely you are on the right track. If it is a man/woman or an opportunity that is lighting your body up and your mind is saying, “oh, hell no.” That’s it! Look closer. Step toward it, not away. It doesn’t mean we have to marry them or take the opportunity, it just means there is something in it for us. No need to make up a story about what it means about us or the future, just lean in and see. Once you begin to move, you may experience fear, worry, doubt, or some form of mental paralysis. It is just your limbic system afraid for its own survival. Don’t let it stop you. Find tools to work through this fear that feel authentic for you; therapy, talking with someone you resonate with, meditation, long walks, spiritual practices, writing, acting it out, being in nature, etc. Acknowledge it, feel it, and keep going.
Joseph Campbell’s meme before there were memes was to “follow your bliss.” Everyone loved it and then when the bliss just never seemed to be “blissy” enough, everyone started to hate it. Bliss, like enlightenment, became another goal to try and achieve. The mind made bliss a trap. So instead of seeking out a final and permanent state of happiness (see: illusion), consider living a life of aliveness and letting your life unfold you. It may not look exactly like the life you planned, but at the very least, you will experience the gift of feeling your life while you are in it.
I work with executives, entrepreneurs and storytellers to connect to their confidence, passion, and purpose, in private 1:1 leadership coaching sessions. Want to discover what makes you come alive, and and how to lean into it? Sign up for coaching sessions, designed to meet you where you are in your journey. Online or in-person intensives in the Azores, Portugal.
