GIVE: Awaken By the Spirit — Awaken the Creativity Restlessly Sleeping Inside You!

GIVE … By The Spirit™ with Tonya M. Evans

Awaken the Creativity Restlessly Sleeping Inside You!

April 28, 2013

© 2013 Tonya M. Evans

From: HelloCherie etsy shop

If deep down in your heart, you love to sing and you never use your voice, it will speak louder in your subconscious, questioning your sense of self. If you love to write stories or poetry and you never put ink on the page, you’re going to feel that unused talent scratching away at you within.

Thoughts, emotions, and creativity are all forms of energy. Energy is meant to keep moving and when we stop its flow and keep it stuck, it intensifies. If we keep this up and keep it in for too long, that stale energy can wreak havoc spiritually, mentally and emotionally. And this stress definitely takes its toll on our bodies.” Chris Assaad, from Share Your Truth and Set Yourself Free!

I recently heard Dr. Brené Brown say that creativity unexpressed doesn’t remain dormant in our bodies but that it becomes toxic as unreleased energy. She also believes there aren’t “creative and uncreative” people in the world but rather those with the courage to be vulnerable and share and those who succumb to fear. I believe we all vacillate between the two extremes based on the choices we make from day-to-day and moment to moment.

When we choose not to develop and share our creativity in any given moment we license over to fear the highest part of our connection with SPIRIT (i.e., our ability to CREATE in the image and likeness of the ultimate CREATOR). And when we chronically hand our divinity over to fear in this way, day after day, our lives reflect and manifest our creative stagnation.

The good news (Lord knows we need some!)? (more…)

SHINE: Awaken By the Spirit — Accept Your Shadows, Awaken to Your Light!

SHINE … By The Spirit™ with Tonya M. Evans

Accept Your Shadows, Awaken to Your Light!

© 2013 Tonya M. Evans

April 28, 2013

“Owning our story can be hard but not nearly as difficult as spending our lives running from it. Embracing our vulnerabilities is risky but not nearly as dangerous as giving up on love and belonging and joy—the experiences that make us the most vulnerable. Only when we are brave enough to explore the darkness will we discover the infinite power of our light.” - Brené Brown

Brené Brown, Ph.D., LMSW has spent the past decade studying vulnerability, courage, worthiness and shame. Brené’s 2010 TEDx Houston talk, The Power of Vulnerability is one of the most watched talks on TED.com, with over 8.5 million views. I blogged about her conversation with Oprah Winfrey on OWN TV a few posts ago.

Recently, I’ve poured over the pages of her book The Gifts of Imperfection, which I believe is an essential text for anyone — like me — recovering from the crippling dis-ease of perfectionism. Dr. Brown describes perfectionism as another very toxic form of fear and as a major obstacle to our ability to live with the type of authenticity only possible when we are vulnerable to the very things that perfectionists spend all of their time and attention avoiding … like the plague.

But what I’ve learned from my own spiritual journey, and what Dr. Brown explores and explains in her work, is that embracing the parts of our “life stories” we’re afraid and shamed of is the only way to experience love and belonging and joy in all of their spiritual glory. (more…)

SHINE: Joy by the Spirit — Never Lose Sight of the Light!

SHINE … By the Spirit™ with Tonya M. Evans

Never Lose Sight of the Light

© 2012 Tonya M. Evans [reposted with permission of WisdomintheWhisper.com]

March 24, 2012

 “This is the trick to staying well, isn’t it: to feel the sun even in the dark. To not lose the truth of things when they go out of view. To grow just the same. To know there is still water, even when we are thirsty. To know there is still love, even when we are lonely. To know there is still peace, even when we are suffering.

None of this invalidates our pain, but only strengthens our way back into the light.” Mark Nepo, The Book of Awakening

I began this morning as I do most mornings, reading the daily message in Nepo’s The Book of Awakening. The short but spiritually sweet message was a confirmation of a consistent message I’d been receiving this week. One that I’d offered others in need of compassionate encouragement:

Never lose sight of the Light.

This is not a new or novel concept to me and perhaps not to you either. But this morning, this week and this season of transition in my life – and in the world as its energy revs and shifts toward transformation – these words are somehow taking on a new meaning. It’s not a suggestion. It’s a reality, a personal and Universal call; a mandate.

The message is to see the truth of what I have even when that very thing appears to be lacking in my personal experience. To not play the illusory game of “when I get there …” “when I have that …” “as soon as I live/work/arrive there …” or “if only I was with him/her …”.

I say illusory because although it’s mindful to have a plan, a goal without divine perspective is ill-conceived and the cause of much of our “mis-creation” in life. Investing too much in the outcome limits our vision, distorts our reality, causes us to focus on the apparent absence of what currently exists (lack) rather than the divine potential to create what supports our best selves when we shift our awareness.

Having an “I’m not worthy, ready or able today” mindset can lead us to forget that the sun still rises and sets even when its light is obscured by clouds.  Or that the light, the answer, the way out of a box requires that we stop focusing on the four sides before us and look up toward the opening to literally and spiritually change our point of view.

The fact is that even when conditions are not what we, in our humanness, deem ideal we are still blessed with the divine ability to grow, to open, to reach up, to get up, to feel love, to experience joy and show gratitude. Indeed clearing our “space” of low energy emotions like fear, anger and hatred is the only way to remember the truth; light that is always present.

For me this means that even when a relationship has died, I am still filled with life. And even when a terminal disease threatens to decimate someone I love, holding her in clear, strong thoughts of love and light connects me to her and others who are doing the same instantly. In those times when I come face to face with the end of life transition of my Nana, the simple act of holding a straw while she fights hard to take a sip gives me profound joy.

Even when rampant injustice in the world appears to be getting worse instead of better as in the case of Trayvon Martin’s death, the most unlikely people can gather together in solidarity to show that love has no race, nationality, religion, gender or orientation; only the highest vibration of One.

The trick, though, is to never lose sight of the light. And then to take root wherever you are and remember the radiant warmth and know that you will see it again. Companionship exists even when we feel alone. Health and wholeness exist even when someone is ill. Life exists even when those we love transition from the physical. Justice exists even when people act in unjust and profoundly unloving ways.

The truth is we cannot afford to lose our perspective when our circumstances appear to be dark. Our ability to not only survive but thrive requires us to pause, get still, get clear and wait with expectancy knowing in time our eyes will adjust. In time we will be able to see even in the midst of darkness.

Even in the darkness, the ever-present miracle can reveal itself. That moment when we spot the glimmer of light that was always there, the one waiting for us to see so it can lead us toward the Way.

For more spiritual food for thought from Tonya, visit www.wisdominthewhisper.com

SHARE: Joy by the Spirit — The Spiritual Practice of JOY!

 ”Joy is an essential spiritual practice growing out of faith, grace, gratitude, hope, and love. It is the pure and simple delight in being alive. Joy is our elated response to feelings of happiness, experiences of pleasure, and awareness of abundance. It is also the deep satisfaction we know when we are able to serve others and be glad for their good fortune.”

http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com

 

SHARE: Filled by the Spirit — The “Best of” Month-in-Review

SHARE … By The Spirit™

© 2011 By The Spirit

October 31, 2011

 This month we shared some poignant and powerful insights about ways to be FILLED by Spirit. We’ve assembled the most popular offerings from October in this post. Consider it your “Go To” post whenever you are looking for encouragement in this area.

Next month, we begin our coverage of being HEALED By the Spirit, so be sure to check in everyday for new observations, lessons, teachings and inspiration. Prepare to SPEAK, SHINE, LIVE & GIVE with each step you take with God toward your own healing! And to stay connected and get instant access to our content when you’re “on the go”, Subscribe to the By The Spirit Content Stream!

Continued Blessings,

The ByTheSpirit.net Contributors

SHINE: Filled by the Spirit — God Is All There Is!

Posted on October 6, 2011 by TME | Edit

We co-create our reality with God. He does not force his ways on us but waits to be invited in. Choose God today. Because the reality is, God is all there is. And God is all we need. And “… if God is for us, who can be against us?”

GIVE: Filled By the Spirit — Optimism

Posted on October 11, 2011 by graceste | Edit

GIVE … by the Spirit™ Guest Contributor — Grace Ste. Croix Optimism © 2011 Grace Ste. CroixOctober 11, 2011 With the unknown lurking its mysterious figure in every big decision we come by, it is sometimes frightening to take a leap of faith and try something new. It’s quite possible that this risk could take [...]

SHINE: Filled By the Spirit — Get Still, Be Filled

Posted on October 12, 2011 by TME | Edit

SHINE … By the Spirit™ with Tonya M. Evans Get Still, Be Filled © 2011 Tonya M. Evans October 12, 2011 “Be still and know that I am God” Psalms 46:10a NIV I have expended a great deal of energy over these past few months; in fact, the past few years have been a serious [...]

LEARN: Filled By the Spirit – “Let Down Your Nets for a Haul”

Posted on October 13, 2011 by Jerricia J. Ulmer | Edit

LEARN! … By the Spirit™ with Jerricia J. Ulmer “Let Down Your Nets for a Haul” © 2011  Jerricia J. Ulmer, M.Ed. October 14, 2011 Luke 5: 1-11 “Jesus said to Simon, ‘Push out into deep water and let down your nets for a haul.’ Simon answered, ‘Master, we have worked all night long but have [...]

GIVE: Filled By The Spirit-Journey

Posted on October 17, 2011 by graceste | Edit

Many people have a designated list of goals that they would want to accomplish before a specific period of time.  They want to reach the top, and often fantasize what life will be like if they took that once in a life time trip or saved a certain amount of money. Whatever your goals [...]

LIVE: Filled By The Spirit – Nurture Our Nature

Posted on October 24, 2011 by kwalls | Edit

LIVE!…By the Spirit™ with Kathleen E. Walls Nurture Our Nature © 2011 Kathleen E. Walls, Psy.D. October 24, 2011 Throughout the years, I have thought about and discussed the concept and the debate between nature and nurture.  In short, our nature is that which we are made of (genetics) and our nurture refers to how [...]

SPEAK: Filled by the Spirit — 3 Life-Filling Practices (audio post)

Posted on October 29, 2011 by EAH | Edit

NEW! AUDIO BLOG! – Many of us understand the importance of STILLNESS, PRAYER & GRATITUDE in our lives. But there are also “undercurrents” to these practices; the deep, moving elements that inspire us towards the action necessary to fill our lives to the brim and over-flowing! Listen in as I share these 3 key elements as we all journey towards our best lives!

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