22 Nov Holidays, Family – and Consciousness!

Let the holiday season begin! Here in the United States, we kick it off with the celebration of Thanksgiving. Most of us are not thinking about Pilgrims and Native American Indians. Rather, we may be evaluating the upcoming “day” with dread, assessing our anxiety over familial expectations, and deciding whether we’ve got it in us one more time.

All over the world, regardless of our national holidays, family and culture – with all their subterranean rules and obligations – drive the bus. For much of our lives, we have endured or participated in these unspoken rules, avoided the customary landmine topics dictated by a designated family authority figure, hidden our authentic selves that we know won’t be approved of, and worn masks of pretend enjoyment.

This isn’t the case for everyone, of course. Many thoroughly enjoy the holidays. But if you suffer through them, this is post is for you. This might be your year to approach it with a higher consciousness – especially if you have been on a spiritual journey. You could ask the forbidden questions and decide who you are now. Are you with your soul family or likeminded folks? Are you ready to look at what holds you to experiences and people that you’ve outgrown or who might be damaging your field? We can’t change others but we can look at ourselves and decide what we want to shift.

What if this year, you invite your spiritual connection into the experience?

Whether the holiday is one defined by coercion, personal slights, parental expectations, bullying or genuine congenial interaction and love, some of us don’t question that we’ll show up. So which “you” could you bring this year?

Instead of hoping someone there will make us happy, or that the event and food will satisfy us, or that we won’t be victimized by harsh judgment or bad behavior, let us be the ones to bring the higher vibrational energy we want exhibited. Let’s decide to be mindful and aware. We might even examine our own expectations –our inner child’s hurts and pains – perhaps even the behaviors we tolerate from others, the energetic interactions that make us cringe, the inappropriateness of certain relatives – and even the parts of ourselves we still hide and don’t talk about. Can we accept and love our true selves this year?

We aren’t wearing hand cuffs. Are we afraid that not being with family means we are unwanted, unloved? What an opportunity to heal!

This year, why not invite the beautiful energies of the light beings into the mix. Put on protection – yes, even around family. Notice the shift in vibration. Notice the change around you, within you. Notice what and who you resonate with. What is mattering to you? What connections are working for you? Do you feel loved? Are you loving? Do you feel small, coerced or dismissed? Do you feel heard, loved, and respected? By whom? Do you hear guidance? What is coming to you?

With family, we tend to show up unconsciously. It’s too close to home. We hang up our discernment because we think we are judging. We give carte blanche to those who hurt or disparage us year after year. We tolerate conversations we find offensive and saying nothing. Why? What about those energies and agreements frightens us into being inauthentic?

Make note of whose energy you feel good with and why. Note where you feel ignored or slighted. Ask yourself why that is okay with you. What is the baggage there? Do you want to continue? Where have we repeated these patterns in the rest of our lives – with bosses, friends, and organizations? This is lesson time, awakening time. Can we lovingly bring these agreements into completion or elevate them to a higher vibration?

Often, our inner child is quite passive on the holidays, waiting for someone else to orchestrate it all – whether it is a parent or a tradition or some other “authority”. What if we chose to show up for our inner child, demonstrating how we can protect and nurture ourselves? What would that look like? Scary, right?

Every event and encounter in our lives is an opportunity to grow, to shift, to transform. Not a single one is accidental, whether we are at the gym, driving in traffic, or dealing with challenging co-workers. Get honest with your experience and resist the cover-up.

This Thanksgiving, become the observer and the participant. If you haven’t told yourself the truth lately about your real feelings, be brave. You’re in for a wild ride. It is a new beginning to the rest of your life. This is a great time to do an inventory of what you really want to do, where you want to be, who, if anyone, you’d like to be with, and how you want to celebrate it. Shifting the environmental energy is an amazingly powerful prospect. Be the light. Be the wand. Be the healer. Be the lover. Be at choice. Then the future is truly yours. What can unfold next is limitless and oh so powerful.

Happy Thanksgiving!