DanaAtkin

I saw a drawing on the pavement on the way to work yesterday. It was beautiful on so many levels. It was in bright coloured chalk across a long section of footpath. It had clearly defined start and end lines and was filled with rainbows, sunshine and smiley faces and flowers. And at each beginning line were the words: When you walk here, you DANCE!

It was kinda liberating. It was in sync with some Chakra work i’ve been immersing myself in for the 2nd Chakra which is all about joy, desire and being creative and uninhibited. What a perfect reminder it was!

It so common that we hide ourselves. We stuff ourselves, our true selves, deep down into our body and psyche for fear of what others may think. We become the person we think they want us to be. We become the person we think will be “successful”. We become the person we think will be liked, adored, loved and respected.

Then, one day we awaken miserable and we don’t know why. Life has lost it’s shine and sparkle and the thought of getting up and going out into the world as this “person” just feels too heavy.

It’s then we seek out advice, we seek a solution to the mundane day-to-day existence. It’s then we go searching. And yet, often it seems that we come face to face with who we’ve become, not who we really are. And so what we really go searching for is ourselves. Often, we’ve had it all along but we’ve painted over our true selves and all it takes is a little unravelling. Yes, sometimes there are more pieces to collect of who we are but ultimately, at our very core, we’ve had us all along.

Perhaps it’s time to remove the layers of conformity and peel back the masks we’ve created and discover once again our authentic selves. Who cares what people think when you dance down the street? Or when you’re 35 and you’re jumping in puddles for the sheer fun of it? Who cares if you’re an adult skipping around the park instead of running? (Skipping by the way is the quickest way I know to get happy – it’s impossible to skip around and not get deliriously happy and giggly).

Often the things, the people, the places that make us deliriously happy, connect us back into who we really are.

What are you going to do today to connect back into Joy and back into your authentic self?