Topic 1: We are Separate Beings
Humankind is a species in struggle. The struggle is within ourselves. Each one of us struggles to get through life relatively unscathed, looking forward to a time in life when things will somehow be ‘better‘ (for example when we finally get our degree, or payday).
We define our lives by our completions; by what we have done and what we have acquired. Throughout our lives we are told to compete with others and to work against them for our own gains. This is such a counterproductive, isolating stance, and yet we go through life feeling powerless to change it.
Our reactions to the events of our lives and to the people we surround ourselves with sets the stage for our future, though many of us miss that connection, as isolated as we are from each other and from our own true selves.
We are often caught up in our own expectations and notions of what is right and wrong; notions that were likely bestowed upon us without our consent or awareness, though we continue to operate from this set of beliefs without questioning them, creating our lives accordingly.
As humans, we must evaluate and categorize the world so that we can make sense out of what we find here. We cling to our ideals and definitions as if losing them would render us non-existent, identifying so strongly with who we define ourselves to be that we completely miss the point…that all of life is a dance of movement and energy; an inescapable flow that not even death will ever halt. We ARE that flow.
Life is not isolated. Life is integrated.
Even so, our personal sense of isolation is necessary in order for us to be able to live lives of individuality and choice and to experience such a wide, full range of emotions in all of their beauty and intensity. In this way, our isolation is a gift, for without it, we could never see beyond it to the integration that is possible.
Topic 2: We are all connected.
To integrate means to blend, to bring together and to synthesize all of the aspects of something into one harmonious whole. In life, integration happens when we begin to listen to that small, yet insistent whisper within us that tells us that we are more than just people living and dying. We are more than our jobs. We are more than consumers. We are more than our education. We are more than our financial status. We are more than our families. We are more than our grandest ambitions.
Realizing this, we begin to question the world itself, and the validity of ‘reality’ as we have come to personally define it all of these years. We seek to become that whole, complete person that we somehow know that we can become; we seek integration.
Integrating our lives into one whole, radiant expression is possible and preferable. This does not mean to say that every day will be joyful, or that we will never feel anger or sorrow.
We do not become integrated by attempting to make every day perfect.
We become integrated when we accept the inherent perfection that lies at the heart of each and every moment, each and every day, and we accept ourselves as part of that inherent perfection.
Through integration, our reverence for life and existence begins to bud and grow and we expand our awareness to accept all of life and everything that exists, has ever existed or will ever exist as the expression of Spirit or Source Energy in all of its endless, creative and varied magnificence.
The ability is within each of us, to take our life and transform it from the fragmented, isolated experience of ego and personality that we have come to know, into the radiant, synchronous, authentic life that we feel in our heart that we can ultimately create. We do this by simply allowing the process to unfold and by paying attention to it. We follow our intuition, we move where our heart tells us to move, with or without hesitation. Life becomes the journey, rather than the destination. Life becomes the moment…rather than a plan with an ending.
Topic 3: Integration from Isolation
Our thoughts are isolated
Our intuition is integrated
Our knowledge is isolated
Our awareness is integrated
Our personalities are isolated
Our souls are integrated
Our lives are isolated
Our existence is integrated
Though they seem to be a dichotomy, there is a bridge between these two terms. It is the place where we are able to recognize our uniqueness and our individuality and yet also perceive ourselves as being a part of something larger, a part of a greater whole, whether that whole constitutes a particular group, like the human race, or the source of life that flows through us all as spirit.
As we continue to bridge the gap between isolation and integration, we come into alignment with what it means to be complete right where we are. Many profound awakenings can result from this shift in awareness.
A skilled coach who chooses this tool in a coaching session can assist a client in identifying the ways that they are living in and acting from a place of isolation.
This is done by asking pertinent questions.
“Who or what are you isolating yourself from in this situation?”
( I’m feeling distant from my partner, feeling hurt or abandoned, blaming, judging)
“Who or what do you feel is isolating you?”
(my boss, my finances, etc)
“How is this person or situation separate from you?”
( physical/emotional distance, point of view, someone else’s fault, out of my control)
“How is that separation serving you?”
And conversely…
“How is this person or situation reflecting something in yourself that you need to pay attention to? “
“How does this person or situation represent YOU?“
“What is the inherent perfection in this person or situation?”
“How is this person or situation challenging you to expand your perception and to grow?”
Integration shines a light on feelings of isolation. Integration accepts these feelings as perfectly ok, even when they don’t feel so hot. It is all part of this matrix of energy and light that we call life, and it is all perfect in its own way.
Integration coalesces all of your ideas about who you are and how the world should treat you as well as all of the nice, neat, mentally ordered boxes into which we categorize our life, and opens it up to encompass an expanded awareness.
Through integration, we find ourselves living from our truth, an authentic place of completeness within ourselves. We also find ourselves more willing to accept other people and the truths that they call their own, no matter where they are in life, no matter if we agree with them or not.