Honor
“Honor is self-esteem made visible in action.”
—ayn rand
Honoring yourself is intuition in motion. To honor yourself is to follow through with what you receive from your inner guidance, a valuable step that too many people miss because they’re still unsure or doubting what they hear. If you don’t trust yourself, you won’t be able to fully honor yourself either. Honoring yourself is showing up for all of it. It’s activating your ideas, sparking magic from your gifts, and sharing your heart with the world.
Honor Your Truth
As you connect to the deepest parts of your intuitive self, you’ll have two choices. The first is to doubt and ignore what your inner wisdom is telling you, to go on pretending it doesn’t matter or that you’re not worthy, clever, or spiritual enough to live an abundant and wholehearted life. The second choice is to honor it, to bravely heed the call and do what you know you need to do. To say yes to your spirit, your path and purpose, the hard-won wisdom of your ancestors and past lives, the guidance of your body, your energetic feedback, your inner truth, and your Divine Team. To honor your intuition is to take an audacious step in the direction of your bliss, your dreams, your magic, and your burning desires.
You now know where your inner wisdom lives and what it’s all about. You’ve breathed new energy into your lifeforce, surrendered your fears, made a profound connection with yourself and your cosmic helpers, and built up a foundation of trust in yourself. Now here you are, free to live a life of your choosing. All you have to do is honor yourself.
This takes grit, patience, courage, and unflinching self-love. But when you honor what you know to be true for you, rather than living by default, you get to follow your heart toward the life you were meant to live. Remember, the ego loves to play small, to be predictable, and to keep things the same. Don’t resist this; just let it go. Let go of the ego’s false fears and disguises—let it dissolve by honoring love again and again.
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Start by taking three deep belly breaths. Surrender any tension. When you call your power back, you’re bringing any scattered energy back into your whole self so that you can feel complete exactly as you are. Say, “I call my power back. I call my power back. I call my power back. I am healing and whole, complete and entirely me. And so it is.”
Now it’s time to get curious about what your Highest Self wants you to honor. If you don’t sense any answers straight away, let the questions sit with you and see what you discover throughout the day (or what insight your dreams bring you at night). There’s no rush to any of this; let the wisdom come in its own time.
If you trusted the wisdom of your body completely, what would you do to honor the messages from your body? Where in your body are the strongest messages coming from?
Where is your Soul directing you? How will you honor the wise guidance of your Soul?
What is the counsel of your heart yearning to tell you in this moment? How will you honor the wholehearted wisdom from deep within your being?
What are the highest thoughts in your mind? How will you stay close to love and high-vibrational thoughts?
How does your spirit wish for you to express yourself more authentically?
In what ways does your Highest Self wish for you to care for the world? How will you honor your purpose today?
Follow Your Bliss
Having dreams in the pipeline of life will give you joy, satisfaction, and a journey to pursue. If you are in a dream drought, then you may feel lethargic, depressed, confused, or purposeless. If you have a selection of dreams close by to work on, then you can dip in and out of them, trusting that the right ones will come to fruition and the others, even if they fall away, will serve a higher purpose, too. Honoring dreams is taught by many to be “selfish,” but they were planted in your Soul before you incarnated and need to be tended to in this life to weave your highest purpose together.
But how do you create a dream, honor it, and bring it to life? You follow your bliss.
Bliss is a feeling of being lit up from the center of your being. A sensation of openness, ease, and unbounded joy. It’s a feeling that goes above and beyond words to show you the way.
Think of bliss as the high vibes that you feel around a certain idea, person, or situation that is so right for you. Low vibes or feelings of discomfort, tension, or unease are showing you that something isn’t right for you, even if your ego is trying to convince you otherwise. Following your bliss means leaning toward anything that feels expansive and true, be it words, ideas, jobs, adventure, clothes, opinions, food, books, friends, or anything that lights you up.
Joseph Campbell famously encouraged the world to follow their bliss. Personally, I’ve found the deepest bliss in the simplest moments, such as a morning cup of warm cacao, a sublime stroll in nature, a gentle yoga class, a silly drawing session with my kids, deliciously soulful music, a scrumptious snack, or a belly laugh with my husband. Little blissful moments throughout the day make for an enormously happy life and they pave the way for fresh insights to drop in and create a ripple effect in your life.
When you open up to mindful bliss, you’ll naturally call in some bold, blissful dreams, too. Such as changing jobs, enrolling in a course, moving to a new neighborhood, starting or ending a relationship, finding new friends or leaving old ones, changing what you eat, deepening your spiritual practice, and expanding your life.
Some days life calls you to take a small step toward your dreams; other days you’ll feel the pull to do something major. Your heart is guiding you toward your bliss every minute of the day. Honor it. Whatever it asks you to do, wherever it tells you to go, however it wants you to live, honor it. You have nothing to fear, nothing to lose (except things that aren’t meant for you anyway), and a life of joyous purpose to gain.
Honoring your heart doesn’t mean you have to do anything that you don’t want to do. Your intuition simply wants you to be true to you. Your Soul wants you to be happy and living life abundantly on your terms.
Intuitive living doesn’t mean feeling wildly happy all the time. There will be moments when you’ll need to express anger, move through the depths of grief, feel intense frustration, let yourself be irritated, and generally be present to any shadowy emotions that arise. Feel into your shadow when it comes, but don’t lose yourself in the back of it. When you’ve honored your pain, step back into the light, and look intuitively for the signs guiding you back to love.
Following are some prompts specifically created to pair with your morning and evening rituals.
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The energy of the morning is sweetly serene. As you slowly wake from your sleep, your mind is in between worlds and largely connected to Spirit. This is a potent time to check in with your inner awareness and wisdom, to allow messages from your Soul to flow through you. Try these questions or write whatever comes to mind from your dreamy mind.
• What did your dream state want to share with you last night? How did your dreams feel? Were there any messages?
• How does your heart feel today? Do you need to bring in more love, deep breaths, self-care, or wonder before you start the day?
• What would refresh your energy this morning? What can you do to honor your energy?
• What is your intention for this day? Set a positive intention around how you want to feel.
• How can you honor your Soul’s guidance? What is your Soul telling you as you rise into a fresh new day? How can you acknowledge who you are today?
• How open is your heart to bliss, wonder, and serendipity? Is there anything that would help open it even more?
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Contemplative Evening Questions
Each day we take a lot of our stress into the bedroom, which messes with such a sacred space and can contribute to poor sleep. By journaling at night and relieving the tension from your day, you let the negative vibes float off you, so you feel lighter when it comes to bedtime. Use these questions or let your heart flood the page with thoughts from your day.
• How were you guided today by your inner wisdom? How did you honor it, and how did that feel?
• What did you do that brought you into or out of flow? What felt aligned and what didn’t?
• What did you wholeheartedly do today that you would like to acknowledge? How can you celebrate your connection to your Higher Self?
• What are you aware of about yourself that you weren’t aware of yesterday?
• What is your intention for this night? Would you like to receive any guidance from your dreams?
• How will you honor your body’s rhythms and prepare yourself for sleep?
Embracing Unexpected Plot Twists
For years I longed to learn Reiki energy healing, though I wasn’t sure why. I loved having Reiki as a treatment, but I also loved massages and never longed to be a masseuse. I’ve been a writer my whole life, so following the nudges to write have always felt aligned, but I never considered myself to be a healer, so I didn’t understand the pull to learn Reiki.
However, when I thought about my kids, the idea of having a deeper understanding of energy healing for them deepened my cravings to learn Reiki. I’ve done a course in homeopathy just so I could confidently administer homeopathic remedies to my kids and myself, and homeopathy has been a gift to our whole family, so I decided I’d do the same with Reiki.
In 2017, I studied Reiki I and Reiki II with two different teachers. By the end of the second course, I had experienced such a profound healing within me, I knew there would be more to this practice than just using it on the kids. The day after the second course, my friend Lu sent me a message asking for healing for herself and her beloved dog. I wasn’t expecting to tap into my new abilities straight away, but this was clearly divine timing, a gilded opportunity that I wasn’t going to miss. I needed to honor what felt right, even if it stretched me out of my comfort zone.
While healing my sweet friend Lu and her dog, I saw visions, movies, colors, energy, and lights. Angels and messages came to me clearly. I was given food advice, wellness ideas, and tips for their happiness. I had never felt so psychically alive in my life. I felt like something had opened up through my Reiki training, like the double French doors to my Soul were thrown open and suddenly there was a new view, a fresh breeze moving through me, and a perspective on life that was so kickass in its vibrancy.
If I had let labels and preconceived ideas of my career or abilities set my limitations, then I would have resisted Reiki because I didn’t identify as a “healer.” But now I have the powerful and pleasurable gift of Reiki healing to offer friends, family, and clients all over the world. It gives me feelings of satisfaction, wonder, delight, purpose, and free-flowing bliss.
I’m amazed at the magic that has poured into my life since learning Reiki. It feels like sacred magnetism at work. And all because I honored the inner pull and trusted that wherever it was taking me was going to be for my highest benefit.
Honor Your Cosmic Talents
My close friend Ros is such an inspiration to me. Not only is she enormously kind and talented, but she’s always been so creative with her life purpose. When she was pregnant with her first child, she felt a vivid knowing that her career in human resources was nearing its organic conclusion and that something more fulfilling was around the corner.
Her Soul kept hinting that she needed to complete her qualification in remedial massage that she had started eight years prior. It wasn’t something that made sense to her logical brain or fearful, doubting, limited ego, but eventually, once she had two children and felt ready to work again, she finished her diploma and a new career fell swiftly and abundantly into place.
After five years of working as a massage therapist in a busy clinic, her Soul once more showed her a new direction. She diligently honored the call, quit the practice, and set up her own healing room at home, incorporating a more spiritual and energetic element into her healing work. Again, her ego wasn’t thrilled at the initial loss of income, but this step opened her up to opportunities and avenues that she couldn’t have accessed had she stayed at the clinic.
It was at this time that we met and became fast friends, and it didn’t take me long to book in with her for a treatment. Her astonishing talents and cosmic gifts radiated through my energy field and the whole room. This was the first time I’d experienced Reiki in such a healing and meaningful way, and it was because Ros had honored her heart that I was able to tap into my own intuitive pull. Thanks to that hour of bliss, I realized my yearning to learn Reiki for myself, which has been one of my greatest gifts. And all because my Soul sister followed her bliss.
The trust you put in yourself emanates from you and inspires others to trust themselves. The way you honor your heart excites others to honor the wild wisdom in theirs. Everything has a vibrational ripple effect that you cannot ever see or fathom. Keep honoring yourself, intuitive one. You’re making a difference with every sacred step.
Unraveling Your Soul Purpose
I don’t believe you can ever discover your Soul’s purpose so much as unravel it, thread by thread. Your purpose is in you all along. It’s something you remember day by day, bliss by bliss.
I never imagined the full extent of my Soul’s purpose until I finally took a good, conscious look inside my heart. When I saw what I really wanted—to write professionally—I decided to give it a go, even though I didn’t have a degree in journalism, and I was almost thirty years old. I had been writing in notebooks my whole life, and besides food, there was nothing else I would rather talk about than books and stories, prose and language. I figured I would land where I was meant to be, so I aimed for the moon.
I spent my twenties searching for purpose, moving from one job to the next. Some jobs I held for three months, others for three years, and even though I adored most of the positions I had, I was never completely satisfied. I was restless. I wanted more. The universe beckoned me onward.
Looking back, I can see this was the gentle urging of my spirit to keep moving on. To learn and grow and try something new so I could unravel more and more of my unique spark and purpose. I kept moving, trying, learning, connecting, and playing with different careers.
I worked various jobs in restaurants: waitress, host, food runner, cashier, barista, bartender, and manager. I worked as a corporate catering manager and a retail manager of a stunning upmarket food provedore. After all this time in the food industry, I needed a break. I knew that there was something else out there for me, but I didn’t know what that looked like yet.
With every job I met new people, some of whom I would connect with so deeply, the job seemingly didn’t matter at all. And every job, no matter how easy or challenging it was, brought lessons, gifts, rewards, and a brighter understanding of my true self. Nothing was a waste.
It wasn’t until I decided to have a go at writing that I landed a dream job. I’d been working in media as a personal assistant, advertising coordinator, and editorial coordinator, soaking up the frantically and intoxicatingly creative world of magazines. When the job of Beauty and Health editor at Real Living magazine became available, I went for it. I was already working at the magazine—and in love with the team. It was like nothing I’d ever done, yet everything had led me to that point. My bachelor’s degree in psychology and sociology gave me a firm understanding of in-depth writing and a curiosity for the workings of people’s minds and behaviors. My years in hospitality and retail gave me an understanding of food and wellness. My passion for media meant that I would go the extra length to bring a feature to life.
I was so immersed in my job that for once I never questioned whether it was right for me. I didn’t have to; I was living the dream. It had its challenges—really big and heavy challenges. But that job taught me so much about writing, editing, design, photography, publishing, journalism, interviewing, health, well-being, people, compassion, and inspiration.
After three years, my job was made redundant. I went on to create the most fulfilling freelancing career a girl could ask for, which I still dip into between bigger projects. Thanks to my intuition, trust, excitement, and determination, I have been published in some of the biggest magazines—in print and online—in Australia.
I began to really understand what it meant to honor my bliss as a freelancer. I wrote about everything that I was learning personally, all the subjects that lit me up from within, and I was published regularly. Commissions for natural health and soulful well-being features began filling my inbox. Slowly, I opened up to the idea of writing about spirituality, long before I considered myself “spiritual,” simply because I was curious. More commissions came through. The universe was listening. The universe is always listening.
It was during this time that I realized my purpose wasn’t my job. My purpose was how I lived my life. To live on purpose—rather than live searching for a purpose—felt so much more expansive and real to me. It gave me space and permission to honor whatever my purpose looked like on any given day. Because as long as I’m honoring my heart, I’m living on purpose.
Looking back at how intuitively I worked to create the kind of life and career that was true for me—sparked my creativity, served the world, brought my gifts and talents to life, and made an income—I feel wonder and joy. I see devotion. I see how I honored my inner spirit no matter what.
Everyday Service of Love
My Soul’s purpose is love. Love in everyday service looks like smiling at others, helping people at every opportunity, being kind, calling friends, loving my family hard, writing to uplift others, and looking for bigger ways to heal and inspire the world.
On the days when I struggle to extend this kind of love out to the world, I give it right back to me. Smiling at myself in the mirror, thinking kind thoughts, loving my body, writing for fun, and looking for ways to heal myself.
A large part of your purpose, and your life, is about finding or creating a job that you love. A job that serves, heals, teaches, or inspires others. But your purpose is not just about doing things for others; it’s how you live each day.
Intuitively honoring the cosmic path of bliss, the universal breadcrumbs of guidance, will genuinely lead you toward alignment, authenticity, joy, and purpose.
If you feel your job, relationship, or living situation isn’t aligned with your Soul, it will take time to realign and consciously find your way home, and it may not always feel so blissful. Most people I know can’t just stand up and walk out the door of a job, relationship, or house toward their dreams. But honestly, your intuition isn’t about making fast or rushed decisions. If you listen to yourself every day, you will gradually move away from what doesn’t make you truly happy and find yourself in a better place. Be patient. Have faith. Honor each moment’s wisdom.
There’s no need to fear change or resist growth; life requires both if it’s to be fulfilling and meaningful. Yet, as you grow toward your own light, you will experience more ease and grace. As you unfurl your clench on the past and open up to the endless possibilities of the future, you will find that a new abundant flow moves through your life.
Remember, your purpose is love. Honor that, and everything else will fall into place.
Bless Your Wildest Gifts
Without realizing it, many of us curse our gifts. We shun our sensitivities, quirks, talents, curiosities, and archetypes. We numb the loud parts of us, the whispers in the night, the fighter in us, the witch, the leader, the renegade, the psychic, the compassionate heart, the seeker of justice, the rule breaker, and the untamed mind. We’re told that they’re uncomfortable, awkward, inconvenient, problematic, embarrassing, humiliating, or just plain annoying. These are all gifts. Bless them. Honor their wild wisdom.
Other people’s limiting opinions on what makes you uniquely you don’t matter because you don’t need permission from anyone to live life your way. Instead, take these inimitable qualities, embrace them, look them squarely in the eye, bless their presence, and promise them that you’ll spend the rest of your life creating space to let them shine.
To be a fresh voice in a world that follows stale old rules is a gift. To be compassionate in an angry crowd is a gift. To be passionate in a passive and oppressed crowd is a gift. To be unexpectedly creative is a gift. To see, know, or feel something without reason is a gift. To stand up for what you believe in is a gift. To honor these gifts is to honor your brilliant Soul.
Live in gratitude for your spirited gifts, your rare life, and your wise intuition. Honor your weird. The brighter you shine your star, the more people who complement your kind of energy will be drawn to you. The more unique you are, the more attractive you will be to the right kind of friends, clients, and those who can add joy and abundance to your life. Honoring yourself wholeheartedly will attract others who honor you, too. People who honor you for all that you are and all that you are not and this sacred journey that you’re on together.
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Quirky and Gifted Soul Prompts
You are a unique and brilliant being of light; there’s no one like you. The more self-aware you become, the more you will realize you were not born to fit into the corners of the world. There is no mold that could possibly capture your essence in its true form. Try looking into these questions on a fresh page of your journal or spend a few minutes meditating on them.
How did your family respond to your uniqueness as a child? Did they applaud certain behaviors and ignore or put down the rest? Were you allowed to wear what you desired or express yourself in other ways?
What are you sensitive to, and how is this a gift? Are you sensitive to food, energy, sound, light, people, animals, or anything else? Keep nurturing your sensitivities and don’t apologize for them. If you get a sense that they are fear-based and debilitating to your life, what kind of healer would bring your energy back to love?
What talents are you hesitant about sharing with the world? Why? We’re all wildly, eccentrically, unexpectedly talented. Expressing our talents makes us feel whole and, quite often, blissfully takes us out of the ordinary world and into a higher realm. Is there a musical instrument you could borrow, a song you love to sing, a way you love to dance, an artistic creation you’re wanting to try, or a style of writing you enjoy? Not all of it needs to be shared with the world, but if it’s all hidden, then no one else can experience the wonder of your creativity.
What archetypes do you relate to? How can you embrace this more? The twelve Jungian archetypes are artist, innocent, sage, explorer, outlaw, magician, hero, lover, jester, everyman, caregiver, and ruler. Take your time journaling about the archetypes, for they each exist in us all in some form, and they can give you real depth of insight if you open up to them with curiosity. You might want to work with one each week as you journey deeper into self-awareness.
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These affirmations are a Soul-centered way to appreciate your life exactly as it is and call in more abundance and love. Manifesting begins with gratitude. Honor yourself for everything you’ve created in your life. Once you’re finished with these, you can get more specific and give thanks for all the particulars in your life that you’re grateful for. Say these out loud with one hand on your heart.
I give thanks for my wise and talented Soul that lights the way.
I give thanks for the sensual body that gives me life.
I give thanks for my curious mind that keeps me company.
I give thanks for the formidable ancestors in my bones.
I give thanks for unconditional, divine love that is always available.
I give thanks for joy that comes from listening within.
I give thanks for Mother Nature and the way nature heals and restores.
I give thanks for my uniquely fulfilling journey.
I give thanks for my bountiful gifts and flairs.
I give thanks for the universe’s synchronicities.
I give thanks for all my wild emotions.
I give thanks for the freedom to be me.
I give thanks and I honor it all.
So it is.