Our Pathway to Identity
When you give yourself space and stillness, you can clear the dust and see yourself from within, not through others’ eyes.
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I am currently listening to the Sun Prayer from The Sufi Lounge album, curated by a design studio I have been following on its intention to awaken and cultivate presence.
This soundscape is making me travel out of time, where stillness prevails. Interestingly, I recap several places in life I encountered universal and timeless qualities.
The north of Africa is one of them. I can visually remember the Tunisian villages where I was, near the desert and the colourful changing salt canals along the streets. For some reason, I can find it a spiritual experience through the sounds, smells, landscape and colours. It feels like I am returning to the ancestral life and a time entailing the present and future.
Another place it comes to mind is the Portuguese Yoga centre. I can remember attending it for three years. I spoke with people developing their practice and spiritual journey in respectable ashrams in India.
One last image crossing my mind in the same place is when I spoke to a travel writer and journalist about what content he was most interested in documenting.
All these people gave up the life the world had told them they should. Instead, they followed their path according to what they thought to be a meaningful life.
The soundscape also reminds me of some of the learnings from the books I have read by Matthieu Ricard, Yuval Arari and Jay Shetty.
It makes me return to a primary point — distancing ourselves from all the modern world’s distractions. Silence facilitates recognizing the difference between outside noise and my voice. I can clear the dirty traits and gradually see what is in my core. Vital for our mental clarity and health.
When we tune out the opinions, expectations, and obligations of the world around us, we begin to hear ourselves — Jay Shetty
Our actions show what we value in life. Therefore, what we do with our time shows what we appreciate in life.
I have been feeling the need to detoxify the mind periodically on this set. I know it is up to us to discover which activities we should include in our lives to achieve those moments of clarity.
It is a matter of research, practice and iteration. But being offline, out of the techno-human-made world, feels like we go to the root of things through curiosity, effort and revelation. We then can find our way to peace, calm and purpose.
In my example, I aim to achieve it by embracing slow travels which create space for reflection and out of the contextual world I live. Also, being involved in a side project means some of the qualities I value in life, embracing a sense of community and empathy.
Other activities to audit in your life:
- the books you read
- the people you add to your life bringing you learnings and inspiration
- the workout outdoors and indoors
- healthy meals
- immerse in Nature
- the moments of silence in meaningful places to you
- walk in a different path or visit a new place once or twice a month
All support you to connect to higher wisdom, playful unlearning concepts with no current meaning, re-adjusting them to your current core values.
In the long term, the benefits will be:
- Focus on the root of the issue to move forward with mental clarity.
- Live intentionally and consciously.
- Fosters a compassionate, caring and collaborative mind
- It helps us to evolve and find the honest answer to what is meaningful for us
- Encourage us to analyze and articulate our actions, aligned with our values
After the process, we feel more determined, patient and enthusiastic. What you are doing feels right to you. We then align commit to a mission, vision or goal.
