Who are you listening to?

Through the Window - 11”×14” Acrylic - Mary Coffey

We live in a noisy world. It is hard to hear yourself think with all the outer noise yelling for your attention. With fake news and AI-generated deceptions, it’s hard to know what to listen to and what to trust.

But you do have the power to choose who you listen to.

You get to decide what to let in.

I’ve just finished a three month mentorship with Connie Solera called Alchemy. During this period, the emphasis was less on creating finished art and more on using art as part of an alchemical process. The transformation I experienced during Alchemy is that I’m learning to listen to my artist soul.

If you’d like to listen to my artist talk and have a look at the artwork I created as part of my transformation, click here.

Though the process is on-going, and my journey continues, I am learning to pay more attention to my artist soul, and less attention to outer noise. I’ve been pausing and listening, noticing and releasing. And learning to trust my deeper truth.

Pause to listen

Taking time to pause gives the deeper wisdom time to rise up. Pausing allows the ego to soften and take a step back. The ego doesn’t have to make every decision, though it thinks it’s in charge. A friend of mine explained that the ego is important, just not in the way it thinks it is.

By pausing, you have a chance to check-in with your inner wisdom, which is your personal guidance tailored just for you. It is designed to get you where you need to be, doing exactly what you were created to do.

Whether you are creating a piece of art or considering a critical decision, learn to listen for your soul’s guidance.

Notice the impact of what you allow in

Your attention is a valuable commodity! That’s why the social media algorithms keep feeding you posts that they hope will grab your attention and keep you scrolling. But only you have the power to choose what you let into your conscious awareness. You get to select and filter what information, media, and data you pay attention to.

Notice whether or not what you are allowing in is life-giving, leading to your greater flourishing. Choose more of that!

Notice when what you are allowing in drains your energy, is dysregulating, or drags you into despair. Set some boundaries to limit your intake of that.

Beside the external voices, notice when those annoying voices of your inner critic and the perfectionist try to boss you around. Awaken your inner rebel and reassure them that you hear their concerns, and that you are taking action anyway.

Release the past

Whether it is stuff I don’t need anymore, identities I’ve grown out of, or relationships that have run their course, today is a good day to let go of all that. With every load I donate to Goodwill, I feel lighter and my house breathes a sigh of relief.

Give yourself permission to acknowledge identities and relationships that you have outgrown or moved away from because you are heading in a different direction. Even after you realize that it’s time, it is hard to let go of those relationships that no longer bring you joy. Allow yourself to feel the grief in those situations. It is okay to have relationships that only last for a season or only blossom in a particular situation.

Release the future

Letting go of what a piece of art is supposed to look like is also challenging. It’s frustrating when the piece falls short of the vision that is in my head. But there is freedom in releasing my plans. When I can manage to do that, I make space for what my artist soul wants to create. I create space for unexpected possibilities and serendipity.

In reality, how much do we actually control? The main thing I control is how I show up and when I show up. Most of the time, I choose to show up with kindness. When I’m hangry, that sometimes goes sideways. How often you show up is a bright indicator of how important your practice is. Every time I show up to my creative practice, I feel better, more full, and less crabby. And the people around me appreciate that.

The list of things I do not control is longer that what I do control. We have no control over whether or not people understand us or our art. We have no control over whether or not people like us or our creations. We have no control over whether or not people like our way of expressing ourselves, but regardless of their response, we have a responsibility to express our truth. The truth will set you free to make powerful, more vibrant, more authentic work. To do anything less than that is dishonest.

Learn to trust your own inner guidance

Soften the noise around you. Put down the phone. Find a quiet space. Reduce the amount of information your senses are dumping on you. Your soul is ready and willing to guide you but she waits for you to ask. You’ll need to turn down the noise so you can hear her speak.

The invitation is to surrender to your wiser self. I find the word “surrender” to be a tad bit triggering. Do you? It is palatable to surrender, though, when it’s my idea, and my choice to do so.

Why surrender to your soul’s guidance? Why not let the ego lead the way? I trust that my artist soul knows the way in the darkness. She guides me towards alignment with my highest values, which for me at this stage in my life are authenticity and truth-telling. The ego is concerned with things like status, commercial success, external validation. While those things are important, they are lower on my values list. You get to choose what you value most and then trust your inner guidance to bring you there.

As you develop the practice of listening for the voice of your soul, and trusting her guidance, you will begin to make powerful and aligned choices from that place. That’s the journey I’m on and will be on for the long term.

Let me be clear that it is very easy to slip back into old familiar habits and societal conditioning even when you know they don’t lead you to your best life.

Why is that so???!? Your brain prefers the safety of what is known, even if it is miserable, over the uncertainty of the unknown. So you’ll need to be intentional about paying attention!

If you need more information when making a decision, do your research and consult with those voices outside of you. But before you choose, drop in deeper and listen to your own wisdom. Wait for her to speak. Ask your ego to stand down. Quiet all your antagonists, the ones that live in your head and swarm around you outside.

Pause and listen to your soul’s wisdom. She’s waiting for you to turn your attention inward. She’s ready to guide you to what lies beyond this moment, this situation, this crisis in front of you. She wants to guide you to what is emerging next for you.

May you learn to listen to the guidance of your deepest wisdom and trust in your own unfolding.

Cheering you on!

Mary