Project Awaken
After season one reached nearly 100,000 people and changed me in ways I never could have expected, I knew #StephenSoulTalks had to continue. There were more wonderful people to interview, more life-changing stories to be heard, and more aha moments to experience. 10 interviews later, now featured on Patheos, with twice as many subscribers and a weekly reach of 6 million, I reflect back on season two of my YouTube talk show, and I am profoundly grateful for the lessons I am taking away. These lessons are not trite quotes I randomly jotted down – these are the beliefs which have changed me forever, truths I hope to live for the rest of my life. I hope they inspire you too. Let me know what resonates with you.
1.) Life is prayer.
Brandan Robertson helped all of us see life in a whole new way. We were talking about the present moment and the choice that we have every day to live in the NOW. Brandan explained that because God is in every single moment of our lives, each moment is an opportunity for us to meet with God. We can commune with the divine anytime anywhere, and after all, isn’t that the essence of prayer?So when we begin to show up for our lives and be present in every moment, life becomes prayer. I still think about that lesson on a daily basis. What a gift to know that our lives, every single moment of them, can be prayer.
2.) We have never been forgotten. We have always been loved. And we always will be.
I thought the only fitting way to express this lesson was to quote Riley Page directly. Those of you who watch regularly know I ask every guest what one message they would choose to communicate to every person in the world. When I asked Riley the question, the interview immediately became a special sacred moment. Riley sat in stillness for a minute or two, listening for what his heart was prompting him to say. Then he shared those powerful words. “We have never been forgotten. We have always been loved. And we always will be.” Those words came back to me sitting on a train on a crisp September morning when I felt alone and forgotten, and they have been a constant companion to me ever since. Not forgotten. Always loved. Always will be. Those words still give me chills.
3.) Our wholeness exists within us waiting to be discovered.
Brian Greco gave us a new paradigm through which we can correctly see ourselves. Many of us are waiting for something external to fix us or enlighten us or complete us. As long as we are waiting for that to arrive, Brian teaches, we are looking for something we are never going to find. We should not view ourselves as painters that need to use the external world to find ourselves and create our lives. Rather, Brian says we should view ourselves as spiritual sculptors. Everything we need is already inside of us, and it has been there since the moment we were created. Our job is to remove all of the fear that we have allowed into our hearts over time, making space so that we can see ourselves and reality as they truly are. I find this view of human beings so helpful and refreshing. Sculpt away everything standing in your way today, and embrace the infinite love that is reality.
4.) We need (and already have) a God out of the box.
Jim Kast-Keat explains how our language about God can accidentally be problematic. Language is finite. It is the tool we have to talk about the divine, so it is needed and valuable. But God is infinite, and God transcends any language we use. Jim walked us through the process of challenging our language about God. God is _________. God is not _________. God is not NOT _________. Jim suggests art is essential to spirituality because it helps us grasp the essence of the divine which is a reality beyond any of the words in our vocabulary. I remember something clicked inside of me during this interview. Though I always knew that God was a presence that surpassed any system of theology, this lesson really helped me embrace a God out of the box.
5.) There is no us and them. It has always only been us.
Diane Benscoter and I had one of most important conversations I’ve ever had about cults and spiritual abuse. I think we all learned so much from Diane’s story, and I know I identify all the elements of spiritual abuse in various arenas of life now thanks to Diane’s thoughtful insights. She exposed how easy it is to accept an us vs. them narrative – being convinced that only you have discovered the truth, excluding the rest of the world, putting everyone else into an out group. Diane was so helpful for me in understanding the ways in which religion can be used to separate, isolate, and divide. The truth is – We are all brothers and sisters. We are a global community. There is no “other,” and that has been the heart of #StephenSoulTalks from the beginning. Diane put this beautiful truth into words. All along, it has always been us – all of us.
6.) The Universe will keep sending you the same lesson until you learn it.
All things are lessons which God would have us learn. That is a mantra we love on this channel. Whatever is showing up in your life is a reflection of what’s happening on the inside. This is a foundational worldview that Alka Dhillon taught us to bring into every aspect of our lives, even the workplace. She brought such a fresh perspective about being mindful in your career as the Spiritual CEO. Alka spoke directly to those moments when we get frustrated because we feel the same pattern is showing up in our lives over and over again. She suggests that because we create our own reality, anything that is repeatedly showing up must be coming from within us. It is our job to pay attention to our lives and learn the lesson we are meant to learn, and until we learn that lesson, we can expect it to keep showing up on repeat. I know I moved forward in my own life because of this lesson! Did you?
7.) Fear is just a frequency we don’t have to choose.
I’ve interviewed Gordana Biernat before – she’s a dear friend of mine and no stranger to #StephenSoulTalks. And in this conversation, I just had to ask her about the influence of media on our lives. Gordana likes to make us think about what we’re putting into our minds and how it affects our reality. What she explained so well in this interview, though, is that fear is just a frequency. So much of the media relies on a fear-based narrative because it sells well and keeps our attention. Fear is real. It is the experience of many people, and it does reflect their reality. But it is also just one frequency of many. We can choose the frequency of fear, or we can select one of peace, joy, wonder, love, etc. Gordana helped me comprehend for the first time that while much of the media available to us may accurately depict someone’s reality, we have a choice to make as to whether or not we want that frequency in our reality. Fear is a frequency I am choosing to skip over more and more. There is so much love to tune into!
8.) Don’t you dare give up on the question that burns inside you.
Brandan and I recorded this conversation with full hearts and minds after experiencing The Life You Want Tour. We shared our favorite lessons from the weekend, and both of us agreed Liz Gilbert provided the biggest aha moment for our own lives. “Be brave,” she challenged the audience. “Start somewhere. And don’t you dare give up on the question that burns inside of you.” Liz gave us permission to honor the life we have been given. She helped us see that we are supposed to pay attention to what is inside of us. And she motivated us to push past our fear and answer the questions we found in our hearts. Because of this talk, I am moving towards a career and a future differently, and I feel more authentic than ever before. I’m still so humbled at the voice I heard inside of me that day thanks to Liz Gilbert.
9.) Money is nothing more than love.
When I was introduced to the work of Amanda Elise, I immediately knew I needed to interview her. I felt deep within that all of us as a family were ready for a spiritual perspective on money. I had no idea how much this interview would alter my day-to-day life. Amanda taught us the life-changing truth that money is just love in action. Every transaction of money is just an exchange of love. In this way, we don’t need to view money as something annoying, negative, or dirty. But actually, money is a beautiful physical picture of the love that makes the world go round! My life has honestly become more magical after getting this truth. Every time I type in a card number online or swipe my card at Target, I think about who I am loving and where the love is going. And every time I’m tempted to worry or stress about money, I remind myself that there is plenty of love to go around. Wow, this lesson was the unforeseen game-changer of the season.
10.) You are stardust and miracles.
The season ended with Steven Floyd, one of my favorite young spiritual teachers who defined what sobriety is all about more clearly than I’ve ever heard it explained before. Steven shared with us a principle that is foundational to his belief system, and I found it to be nothing short of enchanting. We are stardust and miracles. Atomically speaking, we are made up of particles that make up the universe. We literally come from star stuff, as Carl Sagan taught us. And because a miracle is a shift from fear to love, we are in the midst of miracles every single day. What a beautiful way to see life anew and to end the season! Have you embraced your identity as a light-worker of stardust and miracles? I think that’s pretty bad-ass. 😛
Well, there you go. Those are my favorite lessons. What are yours? What did you take away from this season? How are these truths changing your life? I want to hear about it!
Love to all of you. See you soon.
<3 Stephen
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