As I’m putting together some more pieces to round out the Hidden Treasure collection, I wanted to offer you a sneak peek (above) and also to dive a little deeper into what this theme means to me. So far it looks like there will be a few rings, some earrings, a new charm, and a mix of silver and gold. I might add on a couple more things before I send out the waxes for casting! I will keep you posted as to when these will come out, hoping for September.
A few newsletters ago I talked about hidden treasure as being the things seemingly hidden all around us and within us–the gems waiting to be noticed, appreciated. It’s easy to look outside of us and see what these things might be: a sunset, a flower, a shared meal, an opal necklace:). But what is the hidden treasure that lies within?
I’m talking about intuition, inner wisdom, the inner voice. That still, calm and wise space inside of us that is always with us, knows what is right for us, and that we’lll always be ok. It’s the part of us that knows that joy, love, and freedom are not only available to us–they belong to us.
By noticing beauty, cultivating gratitude, and appreciating the small simple joys of life we can begin to tap back into this inner knowing. We can begin to trust ourselves again and our longings and ideas.
If you think your intuition is missing, you’re not alone. I have spent many years now working on locating mine and I’ve found that it’s a process of uncovering what years of conditioning have kept hidden. It might be helpful to first look at all the ways in which we’ve been keeping our intuition locked in a cage.
As we journey through life we slowly learn how not to trust ourselves. We share our ideas and dreams and someone tells us that it will never work, what a stupid idea. This is how it ought to be done. Other peoples’ thoughts become limiting beliefs that we repeat back to ourselves; the silent saboteur. We believe we need to conform to what our friends find acceptable, our families, and communities. We think if we look/act/behave a certain way we can avoid this pain of straying from the group.
Our daily lives become a game of “should” and “shouldn’t” until they completely run the show. I even found myself saying this while creating a new ring the other day–because the design wouldn’t be easily recreated. (“I shouldn’t do it this way,” though my heart longed for it). We look outside of ourselves for answers and we negate what’s in our own hearts for fear of judgement, ridicule, and not doing it the way we were told was best.
The first step in this unraveling is forgiveness–to yourself for however it is you arrived here, disconnected from your heart and longing for something more. And forgiveness to others for making you feel you couldn’t trust yourself. They either thought they were helping, keeping you safe, or they are cut off from their own inner wisdom.
The second step is to accept fully, exactly where we stand today. We may wonder how we got to this place in our lives. Things may not look as we might have hoped but there is hope yet.
The third is to trust and believe that intuition is indeed within us even if we think we aren’t feeling it now. It is available to each of us with a little practice.
The fourth step is to plug back into the heart space and begin to listen and feel the different ways in which the inner voice longs for self expression. It is understanding that what comes from this place within us might not make logical sense, it is like the wilderness within; it has the ability to connect us more deeply with ourselves, each other, and the planet.
I feel that it is more important than ever that we begin to tap back in to this inner knowing and cultivate self sovereignty. Divisiveness and uncertainty permeate our air waves. Fear is an environmental pollutant that hits us all like dominoes and traps the heart. The inner voice is one of love, it shows us our interconnectedness. It gives us permission to do things the way we’ve always wanted, in the way that feels right and true for us. It is knowing and accepting that my way may look different than your way and that’s perfectly ok because this diversity is exactly what makes the world beautiful and interesting and worth exploring. We don’t need everyone to be on board, to like the same things, to create in the same ways. This would be terribly boring, don’t you think?
When it comes to hearing and feeling this knowing inside, it is a practice that takes some time to relearn. Intuition often resides in the heart or gut. When faced with two options we might notice we feel an openness or expansion when considering one and a tension or restriction with the other. It is simple, yet the tension we feel is often tightly wrapped with a “should” the logical mind is trying its best to enact. An expansive “yes” or “no” is often quickly followed by a multitude of reasons why this plan won’t work. The heart often speaks in whispers that we don’t have a chance to hear before our loud and bullying mind takes over. So listen! Ask yourself if the mind chatter is even true.
We can slowly regain this self trust when we begin to listen. The knowing becomes second nature. Identify the limiting beliefs(which often come in the form of friends or family members’ voices), notice where you’re shoulding or shouldn’t-ing throughout your day. I’ve been throwing a new “should” out the window every day lately! How liberating! Who am I seeking to please or whose standards am I trying to meet by following these shoulds anyhow?
By following the intuition we are honoring the present moment. Because that’s all we really ever have anyway. Why deny ourselves of this? Eat the bite of chocolate at breakfast, break out the giant bubble wand your inner child longs to play with, take the nap. Let go of judgement and follow the simple calls of the heart. I have so much more I could say about this but I hope in reading this you felt some bit of peace, joy, or permission to listen to your heart today. It’s a process and it’s a conversation I wholeheartedly love having.
Beautiful words