My spiritual awakening has quite literally taken flight the past three weeks. Birds have been interacting with me to the degree that I know something significant is transpiring; somehow they are here to deliver messages, but what? I struggled as to what the meaning might be, but as I often do, I chose to surrender this to Spirit by asking for the answers to be revealed to me. And then I put it out of my mind and let go.
Within a few days, I visited my mom aka the "crazy bird lady." I began to tell her about my grey bird friend who persistently sang varied melodies to me. I added that he has a white stripe on his/her wings, and that was enough for her to proclaim: "That's a mockingbird!"
As she revealed the photograph for confirmation, my heart fluttered in recognition of my prayer being answered. By now, I'd already been introduced to the concept of spirit animals and animal totems (after owl consistently made herself known to me—even swooping down on my evening walk to scare the living daylight out of me).
Mockingbird's characteristic of regurgitating all of the sounds it hears from fellow flyers is the basis of the spiritual meaning behind this bird's message; it is time to find my own sacred song and forge an authentic path.
I have gleaned endless knowledge, insight, inspiration and wisdom through my spiritual journey to the self (what I fondly refer to as my "classroom of Spirit"). While I stepped onto this path, the Universe greeted me anxiously to send me the tools I would need for the long, arduous journey to self-discovery and awakening.
I met all kinds of teachers, healers, intuitive guides, coaches, authors and speakers from around the globe, all instilling me with spiritual guidance to sustain me on my upward climb. I am forever grateful to those who catapulted my progress, encouraged my growth and filled my heart with the awareness I needed to reveal my nature as a spiritual being.
Mockingbird's ability to imitate the sounds and songs of other birds makes it rather difficult to discern what their true song really is. Herein lies the block to my own Spiritual truth. The voices, opinions, beliefs and teachings of others became so influential on my journey that I often struggled to differentiate between their voices and my own.
And when I applied this metaphor to my own journey, I ascertained that I have to quiet the other influences in order to hear my own sacred song. By the Grace of God, I am being "called" by this spirit animal to release my inner truth for the world to hear.
I have been on a journey to fulfill my purpose and to find my calling—derived from the God-given gifts I unleashed through the expression of my soul, my Higher Self.
Our purpose is to express and extend our divinity (the light within us) through the highest expression of ourselves.
-Rebecca Rosen
I felt strongly called to help heal, empower and teach others through coaching, intuition, angel therapy, energy work, writing and speaking. But what left me stuck in fear, confusion and frustration, is which of these paths to focus on (because I am passionate about them all).
I thought maybe school will reveal the answers along with more certifications and training! But school ended up being a form of distraction and resistance (all forms of delay from fear) to the truth and power I already possessed, right here, right now.
Without having much of an answer on how to press forward, I began to search for my personal, sacred song. What is funny (or not), is the Universe was already on my team; Mockingbird was delivering the message I needed to clarify my purpose and calling.
The Universe guided me to a solution to this "perceived problem" (which wasn't a problem at all); I merely needed clarity on the next step. My intuition guided me to have lunch with a dear friend (who also sent me to my spiritual teacher).
History has a way of repeating itself; as I explained my desire to gain clarity in my spiritual calling, Traci suggested I see an intuitive business coach. I have learned to always say yes when the Universe open doors of abundance to me (the manifestation of my desire to get help appeared).
A week later, I'm sitting with my business coach who very quickly (and abruptly) stops me in my tracks to reveal my own regurgitation tendencies. A coach of over ten years, Erin Garcia quickly caught onto the regurgitated jargon I have picked up along my journey.
Then she proclaimed something that I didn't expect: "I want to hear YOUR story. What is the truth you hold in your own heart—not the truth you have gleaned from every other teacher and healer and coach."
My weary heart caught it's moment to rise up over my mind's chatter and confusion to start speaking the gosh-darn truth.
The truth behind our own story is where our power lies
-Karilyn Owens
Mockingbird also teaches that our sacred song derives from our own circumstances—the experiences that mold who we are in order to create our story.
As we dug through the chapters of my life, my emotions came singing through my story to reveal deep meaning interwoven in my experiences.
Erin applied her intuition as a coach to find the the underlying theme of my experiences: power.
The pivotal moments in my life when I gave up my power to make decisions left me powerless to my own destiny. The times I fully owned my power to choose what felt true in my heart brought me to deeper realizations of my inner truth.
At the turning point of a life-altering moment in my life (when I leave safety, security and comfort to travel into the depths of the unknown as a self-employed person following my heart's calling), I came to another fork in the road: choose my own power and the infinite landscape my purpose will paint or turn my power over to society and other influences to determine how I fulfill my calling (when God is clearly placing truth in my own heart with Divine Grace).
I quickly settled into the awareness that my fear was still running my life to a certain degree (a truth I didn't want to admit to myself); my tendency to control how this outcome would look by imitating the influences around me resulted from self-doubt (a manifestation of perfection). I attempted to be something rather than listen to my own heart's truth and let my journey unravel with grace. I leaned on my greatest form of support: faith; I am being guided by a force much bigger than my own Ego's agenda.
As we slowly unraveled the threads of my theme, Erin helped me craft my mission statement (which needed to focus on the impact of my service to others—my spiritual purpose of extending the light of my Divinity):
Empowering individuals to live consciously from the inside out.
It just so happens that Erin discerned the very word that has come to form my new reality as spiritual being: consciousness.
Consciousness is created from a deliberate drive/desire to grow in awareness.
I firmly believe that each and every action I took to grow through heart-centered intentions, brought me to higher levels of awareness, until I revealed my inner truth (and voila!—the power within the truth of my very story.
As I stared at the white board with my mission statement written in plain sight, I felt my nervous, anxious mind sigh with an overcoming sense of relief.
The notion that this session just removed all the mud that was covering up my calling to serve a meaningful purpose through service, AND simultaneously revealed WHAT I would do felt like the Heavens opening up with a harmonious Hallelujah in my heart.
I realized just how important surrender has become in my life; the message I received to surrender the HOW to God (and simply focus on my intention to serve) revealed its validity that afternoon in the Coach's Cottage.
And my heart sang with joy. Joy from complete clarity of my inner truth and personal power: conscious living from the inside out. Standing in your power. Living with an open Heart. Raising awareness of your personal truth through conscious living.
The mockingbird sings And I flock to her song She sings of the beauty And influences around her And yet still stands tall And fearless as her own Divinely created self. It is I who takes note Of the spirit behind This magnificent messenger, That I am in fact a creature Of my influences and experiences And yet I sing my own sacred song. I am not my past even Though it gave me a stage For which I learned to Valiantly sing with abandon Of a love so divinely inspired That my heart's melody Is a heavenly medley Of the spirit within, Calling me forth To fearlessly forge My purposeful path And unleash my inner Song for humanity to hear. Yes my mockingbird sings Of a powerful voice ready To shine unto others The light in her heart.
-Karilyn Owens
Poetry is my heart's lifeline on paper, a combination of heartbeats that together sing a song straight from my heart (and my heart alone). There's no external chatter; simply my heart bleeding onto paper with little to no hindrances. The pen flows where my heart goes. Poetry has been the way to express my deepest emotions, both romantic and spiritual, as the full expression of my love. These words would quite literally not be possible without my heart breaking open to uncover the depth of grief and despair and trapped longing to love fully beneath all the layers of fear that shut off these emotions from ever rising to the surface.
But that is just what poetry does for this introverted heart—it releases my emotions even when I don't have the courage to say them out loud. It is my heart's way of healing.
As I have come to reside in a place of empowered truth, I saw the power my words (and story) held. I made it part of my mission to consciously share my truth via writing and poetry, in hopes that it touches another soul in a way that raises their own consciousness.
That is why we are here after all, to raise our own consciousness in order to share the Light derived from living consciously out loud. We must live out loud. Through our heart. And touch another's very soul with our existence.
That is my sacred song.