Owls and Orchids

Can you see me?

“Stop looking outside yourself for the answer, you may never resolve the external problem. But once you start looking inside yourself for any mistakes, it may become easier to resolve any problem in your life.” Kemmy Nola 

How often do you take the time to really stop and think about the way your are perceived by others? Is it really important to consider how others see you, or do you feel your impact on the world is no-one’s business but your own?

I was really taken with the way this photo was done, showing the reflection of myself through their eyes. It has, on many occasions, made me pause to wonder how I am perceived by others. What impact, if any, do I have on my outer world? Perhaps more importantly for me, are whatever interactions I have of a positive nature?  Have I brought any positive value to my world at large as well as to my inner world?

Any challenges to our health, welfare or life can bring about a time when we question the values of our life. I have always believed it is something which can be valuable, even if confronting, rather than wait until the end of our days and then be filled with regrets. I suppose, of course, that there may be those fortunate individuals who have no regrets with their life choices but I feel they would be few and far between.  Of all those I have talked with in their final days, there have always been things they were grateful for and things they wished they had done differently. I think, for me, it summed  up this human existence of ours. The lessons we learn as spirits in a human body, some good and some could have been better, and some we wish we could have back to do again. (We do get the chance to!)

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by unknown.

Several days of shocks, revelations and disappointments have made me turn inwards, reflective and questioning. What is my purpose here? What am I doing that I should be doing better than I am at present? Am I on the right track or have I derailed myself? Is this the reason why there have been shocks and disappointments?

Of course, the spiritual response is: I am in exactly the right place I am meant to be in at this moment in time. Everything is exactly as it should be. You (I) am exactly as I should be. All is unfolding according to plan.

In my search for answers (read more here, here, here and here), I have become accustomed to looking at my life, my actions and interactions with others and asking myself if I could have done ‘this’ better. Who do we turn to in order to evaluate our actions? The spiritual answer is, we turn to ourselves, and our Guides and loved ones when we finish with this life and evaluate if we have achieved or learnt the lessons we had decided on, before our current human incarnation.

image from http://www.ashtarcommandcrew.net

None the less I find it an incentive to strive for continual growth, not improvement as such, since there may be nothing wrong with what I am doing, but to grow as a human being, as a spirit, so that I can say I have learned all that I can from this experience.  There is no denying that ‘this experience’  may not be pleasant, or even palatable – like being attacked by a bad-tempered python – but there was a lesson to be learned there. If it’s a wonderful experience, like my wedding just over a year ago, then I may not find anything I would have changed, but if there was then I could remember that for when my daughter gets married.

Reflecting on the days events, not just the huge life events, is a powerful tool to self-development and soul growth. An example I learned many years ago was quite simple and amusing. Like most youngsters I had my favourite TV shows, film stars and films and so on. My heroes whom I would like to copy in some way. Having ‘make believe’ heroes to look up to is fine, but there comes a time when true growth occurs when we have real life to inspire us. I realised that wanting or trying to be like or comparing myself to fictional characters was taking me away from a real path. To continue to compare aspects of my life to fictional characters was a vain attempt to avoid taking responsibility for my own soul growth.

To have people who have led incredible lives, who are inspirational and who have some attributes we would like in our own life is a good thing. We can attract those qualities into our own life. It would be lessening my opportunity for growth if I wanted ‘their’ life. That is their spiritual growth, not mine. I may make mistakes, but they are my mistakes. When I look at the spiritual reflection of my life I can know that it is all my learning experiences, mistakes and gains.

When I reflect on my life, it will reflect my life experiences, not a pale copy of someone else living their life, real or make-believe. Science and psychology can go only so far to explain the human element of our life, to mistake it for our spiritual development is, in my opinion, a disservice to our spiritual growth. Being mindful of what is, Being present and living from the heart allows our soul to grow, reflecting the life choices we have made.

All this allows me to reflect on my “Life, Love, Spirituality and the Odd Catastrophe” which is what Owls and Orchids has been chosen to do.

image from lawrencerspencer.com –

“Usually, when the distractions of daily life deplete our energy, the first thing we eliminate is the thing we need the most: quiet, reflective time. Time to dream, time to contemplate what’s working and what’s not, so that we can make changes for the better.”
― Sarah Ban Breathnach

When you reflect on your life what will it look like?

We are all spiritual beings having a human existence.

Blessings, Susan xx

©Susan Jamieson