As 2011 drew to a close, I asked myself a life-changing question: What did I want most in 2012? I sat and waited for an answer until a voice within whispered ‘to follow my heart’.
And I’m glad I did.
I soon realised that much of what I thought I wanted in my life wasn’t what I truly wanted. With my head ruling my heart, I’d experienced a lot of struggle and disease.
My heart, on the other hand, knows what serves me at the highest level and what nourishes my body, mind and soul. It knows what’s true for me.
That’s not to negate everything my mind tells me, ultimately I want to be in a space where head and heart are integrated. But having been disconnected from my heart for so long, receiving and heeding its wisdom has transformed my life.
As the August New Moon shines, I’m beginning a new phase in my life. And I’ve noticed a pattern emerging.
Following my heart’s guidance
When I consider where I’d love to live, I always think I want to be by the sea. Yet my heart and intuition keep leading me into the mountains. Choosing to follow that guidance, whilst seemingly illogical, has always opened up magical experiences for me.
17 months ago in LA, when I began to search for a place to live near Venice Beach, my heart guided me into Topanga Canyon, where I connected with Native American symbolism and myths. In particular, I was drawn to explore their interconnection with nature and harmony with the land.
My exploration of the outer wilderness mirrored an ever-deepening exploration of my inner wilderness, revealing more of my true nature. Then out of the blue, I was gifted the opportunity to hold the space for others to dive into their inner wilderness through ecstatic dances on sacred Native American land.
Mount Shasta, in Northern California, called me next. On my way from the West Coast, as I drove through the Trinity-Shasta National Park, I experienced a deep spiritual connection with the land. Tears flowed as a sense of homecoming washed through me. Time and space evaporated leaving a lightness, unconditional love, oneness.
My time in Mount Shasta was surreal and healing. The purity and high vibration of the land and the people I spent time with, including a ‘man of the land’ who shared that nature was his religion, nurtured my soul’s yearnings to deepen my understanding of the healing power of nature and to open me up to a explore what it truly means for each of us to live sustainably.
When I came to Costa Rica I intended to live by the sea and run on the beach every morning. Yet I met and fell in love with a man who lived in a beautiful home in the mountains, one that became my home too.
After a few months, we moved further up the mountain, deeper into the jungle to a place that immediately felt like home. It was a perfect place to land for a while, to restore my vitality, to connect with the cycles of nature and to embody patience and presence.
Embracing the unknown
Today I begin again on another mountain, in an eco-community. A place I first visited nine months ago, where the seed was sewn for my boyfriend and I to return to co-create a home together and bring to life our creative projects.
When we connect with our heart’s deepest desires and follow our intuitive guidance to create them, life unfolds. We keep taking the next step, plunging curiously into the unknown, opening ourselves to the magic of life.
Never would I have imagined when I followed my intuition to go to North America 17 months ago that I would wind up in the jungle of Costa Rica. As I look back, I see a golden thread in my journey and as I continue to follow this thread, I grow and reveal more of who I am. What matters most to me, and what I’m here to share becomes clearer.
It’s a journey that requires courage and commitment, a willingness to merge with our vulnerabilities and let go of our rational ideas of how life should be lived. One that requires mastering the art of living intuitively, diving into the unknown, allowing ourselves to receive higher guidance and faithfully follow it.
Learning to quieten our mind and find our centre so we can hear the whispers of our heart, we can recognise the resonance of truth within.
