Recently, in addition to the many things on my plate, I've decided to move to a new place. In fact, it'll be to a new state. The actual process of moving might take a few months, so I'll let you know where I will be going once everything is done, but for today's update, it's enough to say that I've decided to move.
In discussing with someone about moving to the new state, he remarked that people are generally "unfriendly" there. Without thinking, I responded, "I believe that wherever you go there you are." I don't know where I heard that phrase, and personally, I don't remember using it before, so I looked it up. Its origin is attributed to Confucius.
I choose to believe that wherever I go there will be nice, friendly people. I'm sure there will be at least one or two such people around. Otherwise, I'll have to resort to being best friends with myself, which isn't such a bad thing either. Read on for further reflections on the phrase, "wherever you go there you are."
Have a wonderful week!
Wherever You Go There You Are
Reflections Before Moving to a New Place
The phrase "wherever you go there you are" is a neutral phrase. It makes no judgment of who you are. However, its underlying message can be hard to stomach for some.
If you like yourself and look at others positively, then it's a rather optimistic, hopeful phrase.
If you don't like yourself, then such a phrase can feel like a slap in the face. It's saying, "What you experience around you is a projection of yourself. So if you find people to be unfriendly, look within to heal what makes you feel unloved and unaccepted inside." Because, certainly, you deserve to be loved and accepted as you are.
As a holistic psychiatrist, I encounter people in all states of mind. On one extreme, I had a patient call me from another state (after driving hundreds of miles from Maryland) to tell me that he is convinced that someone is out to kill him. Everywhere felt life-threatening and dangerous to him. Another patient suffering from mania may feel too much love for and from everyone. In mental illness, the phrase, "wherever you go there you are" is plainly demonstrated.
Most people don't experience life at these extreme states of being. However, the fact remains that "wherever you go there you are" is still happening to us, just at a more subtle level. We experience life through our individual filters. Even perfect energy, what I describe as "Life Energy" goes through our filters and is experienced differently by people from different backgrounds.
When I asked some patients how they felt when experiencing Life Energy's healing presence, here's what some of them said:
A woman who suffered from sexual abuse and an overly controlling mother: It helps me to feel calm and centered. It makes me feel peaceful and experience self-love. It gives me an overall healing of my soul and body. I don’t feel alone or powerless. It’s there to support me. It is experienced as a relationship. It is a higher life source: universal love.
A man who felt that he should have been a woman and agonized over whether he should change his body so that he would look on the outside, what he felt on the inside said: It allowed me to release, let go, cope, liberate, accept, and experience mercy, grace, and forgiveness during the process. It’s a matter of setting the stage in the energy work and then with the stage set you can go out and do the acting better, because everything is in its place. You can then maneuver through it more confidently, because everything is in its place and aligned, so you can do a better job than before with your lines when you go out on stage.
An accountant coming off Wellbutrin said: I’ve always felt that it was like a prayer. If I could use accounting as a metaphor for the energy work, it would be the strategic planning part. It is the mission statement, outlining the purpose and goals, and the tactics used to achieve them. It is the foundation.
A 42 year-old woman who abused alcohol for 30 years said: In AA, alcoholism is considered a spiritual malady and that the remedy is a connection with a higher power. When one is actively anxious and depressed there is a disconnect with the ‘sunlight of the spirit.’ Darkness can’t exist where light shines. It shines light into that darkness. This work here helps me with that connection to the light. When you’re open to divine spirit, you will get exactly what you need.
Whether in healing or living within a community, life goes through our inner filters and we see a part of ourselves in our experiences.
As I move to a new location, I will try to remember this important phrase so that I can make every experience a step towards self-awareness and personal growth.
I hope these reflections will help you to grow in self-awareness also. Have a wonderful week!