Month: November 2022

A Practical Guide to Tapping into My Power

How do I claim my inner authority and connect to the power within? There are some very practical things to consider.

November 19, 2022
2 Comments on A Practical Guide to Tapping into My Power

Tagged Divine Feminine, Fearlessness, Focus, Growth, Power

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Last week I wrote about tapping into my own power by claiming my inner authority and following the calling of my soul. My of my wonderful readers promptly replied, “How?” I believe that question is at the crux of what we are called here to do in our lifetimes. How do I become grounded and centered enough to not succumb to the patriarchal definition of power (power over)? How do I claim my inner authority and connect to the power within? There are some very practical things to consider.

It is a lifetime process. Hopefully I am constantly learning, evaluating, and reevaluating what works and what doesn’t work in my life. Through a process of trial and error, I learn and grow. I discard that which doesn’t work for me and try on new thoughts and behaviors that might better serve me. It is never one and done. There is always more to learn.

I must have the desire to grow. If I am perfectly content to live out patriarchal and societal expectations, nothing will change. My heart must long for a better way in order for me to become conscious that there is a different way of living in the world. I must actively seek growth.

I must focus on the inner work. I must turn my attention to my inner world. When I pray, meditate, listen, discuss, read, contemplate, I become more aware of the power of the infinite within myself. I begin to find that these practices become more important than that power that is manifested in the outer world. I begin to soften and open my heart to a new way of being.

I must begin to love myself. If I don’t love and accept myself, I cannot find empathy and compassion for others. The “power over” paradigm becomes a default way of being that I can justify in my heart because I cannot see or understand that the “other” is me. Then it becomes easy to trample on others by whatever justification seems to work at the moment. In addition, loving myself allows me to claim my sovereignty and set loving boundaries that mirror my own spirit. Loving and accepting myself as enough helps me to accept others as enough. We each have our own paths to follow, and I don’t have the right to tell someone else what their path should be.

I must be willing to step beyond the fear. It is a scary thing to step out of the collective paradigm and to choose a different path. Society has a way of punishing those who don’t conform. That punishment can range from shunning to murder, and I carry these lessons from the past embedded in my DNA. I must be willing to speak and to act in spite of the fear in my very bones. I must be willing to use my voice, to stand in my enoughness, to be who I am called to be, knowing that the consequences may not be pleasant.

I must listen to my inner voice. Every time I step into this process of growth, I am listening to that still, small voice within. Whatever I call the voice – inner knowing, intuition, Nature, Source, God/dess, Soul – that voice is what calls me to become my true self. It is the guide to tapping into my inner power and becoming who I am meant to be in this lifetime.

Barbara Garland
November, 2022

When Does the Spiritual Become Political?

Tapping Into Inner Power

When I tap into my own inner power, I become enough, just as I am.

Goddess Inspired

November 11, 2022

Tagged Boundaries, compassion, empathy, Power Over, Power Within

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In a Patriarchal culture, having power means having “power over”. The currency of power over can be economic, physical, political, environmental, sexual, emotional, or any combination of these. Power over means winning at all costs, and winning is everything – even if winning ultimately destroys the winner and the prize. Prime examples are Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It is the flexing of power that is important. It doesn’t matter that the ultimate outcome destroys lives and wreaks havoc for the rest of the world. It only matters that the perpetrator retains a sense of power over others. In this system, there are different rules for those who have power than for those who are powerless.

When the Divine Feminine comes back into the equation, she brings a different view of power. Power becomes power within, not power over. In this world view, what is important is claiming one’s own inner power, claiming one’s own inner sense of self. In this paradigm, winning and conquest are not important. I don’t care if I go home with the most marbles. I do care if I played the game fairly and was a gracious winner or loser.

When the Divine Feminine and the Divine Masculine are in balance, I am able to claim my own inner authority to act with love. I am able to see others, not as potential conquests, but as being an extension of myself. I am able to see through the eyes of my heart, not my ego. I am filled with compassion and empathy, not with schemes to win at all costs. I am able to see and acknowledge the pain of others as well as my own pain.

But acting with love and compassion does not mean that I capitulate to the whims or demands of others. Rather it means that I recognize that what is right for me is not necessarily right for another. I am able to stand in my sovereignty while acknowledging the sovereignty of another. I empathize with the pain of another, but I keep my boundaries strong enough, in love, not to get sucked into their goo. I don’t have to win, but neither do I lose who I am at my deepest core. Acknowledging another’s pain doesn’t mean that I agree with them; it means that they are free to be who they are while I am who I am.

When I rest in my own inner authority and tap into the power within, my ego begins to fade into the background. It becomes less and less important that I win or that I am right. I begin to lose the desire to always win or to exercise power over. I become more able to see that while my way is right for me, it isn’t always right for someone else. I stand in my truth and allow others to stand in theirs. I don’t have to amass money and power or to always win. I have a healthy balance between the agency of the masculine and the receptivity of the feminine. I can be content with taking care of my own soul without having to pretend I know what is right for anyone else’s.

When I tap into my own inner power, I become enough, just as I am.

Barbara Garland
November, 2022

Using My Voice

We are all in this together, and by sharing our authentic selves, we help others to do the same. How do you want to use your voice?

Goddess Inspired

November 4, 2022

Tagged Authenticity, courage, Fear, Speaking One's Truth

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It is not always easy for women to find their voices. There are so many cultural messages when it comes to speaking our authentic truth and standing in our sovereignty. If I speak my anger, I am a bitch; If I share my grief, I am too emotional; if I am logical and rational, I am cold and unfeeling; if I share my knowledge, I don’t know what I am talking about. Think about those times when strong women speak out, when they call for change, or call out injustice. The media concentrates, not on their words, but what they are wearing. It is no wonder that I, and many other women that I know, have been afraid to use my voice throughout most of my life.

When I began writing these blog posts two years ago, I was determined to use my voice. It is one of the life lessons that I must learn. Of course, I was terrified to publicly speak my truth. Each week, as I posted this blog, I was aware of a deep-seated fear. What would people think? How would they react? Would they reject me because I was writing things that were not main-stream or because they weren’t the same beliefs as everyone else’s?

This has been a profound journey of self-discovery. As I write each week, I am expressing my own spiritual struggles. I am expressing what I hope to become, lessons that I am continuously learning, and concepts that I am exploring. It is obvious that I am a work in progress, and definitely not a finished product. It is a messy process that can’t be wrapped into a neat package and tied with a bow. It is the real me, and it isn’t necessarily pretty.

Each time I hit the send button, I find myself filled with self-doubt, and more than a little fear, about how this week’s writing will be received. Is it good enough? Am I the only one who feels this way? Why did I say that? But each week, I find myself less and less afraid to stand in my own truth. Each time I step out, my voice becomes stronger, and I become more centered into who I am on the deepest level.

As you know, I recently published a book, which is an interactive journal, compiling one year’s worth of my blogs with questions designed to help the reader determine their own spiritual essence. I was terrified for the book to actually be published, but now that it is out, I feel more grounded and real. My true self is out there. The world hasn’t come to an end. My friends haven’t deserted me. I am here. I have spoken my truth.

Finding my voice has been a process consisting of a lifetime of baby steps. Each time I speak my truth, each time I use my voice, each time I offer my vulnerability as well as my strength – these times give me courage to step out the next time. While the fear is still there, it no longer rules me. Fear no longer has the power over me that it once had. I can speak my truth openly and unapologetically. I have found my voice.

As you find your own voice, remember that it is a process. It is one step at a time, and sometimes you fall back and have to begin again. Each time you speak is another step forward to having the courage to speak the next time and the next. We are all in this together, and by sharing our authentic selves, we help others to do the same. How do you want to use your voice?

Barbara Garland
November, 2022

About

New blogs will be added to this post every Friday.

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About Me

I am a seeker of truth, a truth teller, a lover of the Divine Feminine, an aspiring writer, a mystery, an open book, a work in progress. I have lived a long and varied life, and now in my seventies, I am being called to share some of what I have learned over the years. I hope to share the wisdom of the deep Feminine that is being channeled through me.

If the Goddess has ever whispered to you, I invite you to join me on an incredible journey of love and discovery. May you hear Her wisdom through these words.

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