By Jessie Douglass-Smith McGraw
10 min read

In a time when everything feels uncertain, I’d like to point you to something beautiful.

Not because I know you need some lighthearted content (that’s just the bonus), but because it’s a truth of who we all are, and this global pandemic we’re experiencing has made it very visible to those of you who have never seen it before.

As the days have unfolded, and week by week, country by country, you’ve seen humanity experience something that has never been experienced by the generations currently walking on this planet, has it been comforting to you to know that ‘we’re all in this together’? Have you seen posts online about Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson, Idris Elba, Kevin Durant, Placido Domingo amongst other celebs being tested positive for COVID19 and thought, ‘wow, we are truly all the same’? It’s times like these that are our greatest equalizers but beyond that, it’s a moment where we are ALL – every single one of us around the globe – pointing in the same direction.

Our ONENESS.

Yes, we are One in that we all have a human body that can contract this virus – it does not know the differences between us albeit race, gender, sexual preference, culture, social status, or financial success – but I’d love for you to get curious about our Oneness in a deeper way, just by looking a little further.

First, let me ask you, do you have to think to yourself ‘heart beat, heart beat’ all day long to make it work? No, right? Do you have to put any effort into healing a cut on your arm, or does it just heal? Of course, you can help it along with some ointment and a bandage, but it’s innately built-in that it will heal itself, yes? What is the common denominator between those two examples? Beyond the biology of our bodies, what’s the source behind it that makes it all work? As you may remember from fourth grade, what physicists have studied and developed theory upon theory with, we are all made up of, and live within, energy. The energy that we all are plugged into is our ALIVENESS. In the way that WiFi or 4G makes the internet work on your phone. It’s what we feel has left someone when they pass. Our spirit, our soul, our divinity – whatever you would like to call it. From this source energy we are given three gifts that we use to create our experience: Universal Mind (not our personal brain, but the energy of all things. Our true essence, what we feel in our gut – our intuition – what we can ALL feel), Thought (what we use to navigate life), and Consciousness (our awareness).

These three principles, as discovered by the late Scottish mystic, Sydney Banks, are how each and every one of us create our experience of life. Why are these principles so incredible and why is it a game changer if you allow yourself to get curious about them?

We have the gift of our awareness to see when we are using or misusing the gift of thought to either keep us in the past, or move us forward while enjoying the present moment and all that unfolds from it. When you begin to SEE, in a deeper way, that you are consistently creating your own personal experience, moment by moment, you are freed from the shackles of your mind that have created a jail around you because you see that you were the one that innocently created the jail in the first place. You are freed from being a victim of your circumstances because it is impossible to feel your circumstances without you thinking about them first.

You are freed from this virus making your life a living hell because you see that it’s up to you how you think about it. Every single one of us creates our experience of life the same way. Using the same three principles. So why is it that I can feel calm within the chaos of all of this, while others feel insecure? Because I’m aware of these three principles (like you are now), I see how they work together to make my experience from inside, and I can use them to see life clearly (or innocently, not clearly). I can use the Universal energy of Mind and my awareness to choose what I want to listen to.

I can go to the moving target of my thoughts to find peace (not the best idea), or I can go the other way, to my true essence that is consistently in a state of peace and be guided by what occurs to me from there. Do I have moments where I get caught up in my thinking? Of course! That’s my humanity. But because I’m aware that I have the free will to choose what I pay attention to, the loud band of my thoughts, or the quiet flute of my wisdom that comes from deep inside of me (aka gut instinct) – there’s peace in understanding how I work inside, there’s peace in knowing that these three principles are always working to create my experience. I’m never at the behest of what’s going on out there. I have choice. I have control over what I want to put my attention on.

It’s how we ALL work. It’s our Oneness. The more we see that, the more YOU see that, the more grace you’ll have for yourself when you get caught up in your head because you’ll see how you’ve innocently been pulled into the movie of your mind. You’ll have more compassion for others whey they get caught up in their misuse of thought because you’ve been there too. Recognizing our Oneness leads to more connection, love and understanding. I don’t know about you, but I believe at a time like this, we can all use a bit more of that.

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Jessie Douglass-Smith McGraw is a Los Angeles based Mindful Health Practitioner & Transformative Coach. To learn more about her practice visit: whatmovesyouLA.com.

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