Pushing Past Budding Potential to Get to Full Bloom

April 14, 2019 by Alannah Paren in Inspiration

Lately I have been reflecting a lot on how far I have come in my personal life, noting the key practices and elements that helped me get to this point, along with the areas of my life that I still feel like I have not completely unlocked. Inspired by Michael A. Singer’s book The Untethered Soul, I began to come to the realization that I am my own barrier in knocking down any walls that I currently have or ever will have. One of the most important aspects of my journey to where I am now in life, was that I always tried to follow the idea that you “grow through what you go through,” so whether it was one of my lowest lows or highest highs, there was a lesson that I tried to extract for future application. Secondly, in my past, the most prosperous moments came when I had decided to completely surrender myself to whatever life had in store, erasing any imaginative borders that could confine me to a specific outcome. As I have begun to once again ask myself how I can transcend and open myself to even more abundance, ready to focus on my inner self in a way that I haven’t been recently, I have pieced together that in an effort to grow, I must enter out of my “comfort zone” (a place that only exists because I arbitrarily decided that some things in life are scarier than others).

I have been visualizing myself as a little sprout, hoping to push through the dirt and see the sun, imagining that once I get above ground I will finally be able to absorb all the light and beauty of the world. That is when I realized that my perspective was that I had to struggle to emerge from underneath this soil that was blocking me, rather than noticing that this dirt was chock full of nutrients, helping me in my endeavor. This relief of recognizing that something wasn’t a threat to my existence, but was rather a helpful element that wasn’t worth fighting against brought so much contentment – so much stress was shed and I realized that regardless of my stage in life, I can always just be and welcome in all that the universe is willing to provide. Life shouldn’t be a continuous process to get to a certain point where you think happiness exists, there is always happiness and life waiting to be soaked up every day. We have to teach ourselves to turn this perspective into the dominant lens through which we view life.

However, living life free of stress, fear, etc. is easier said than done, and it definitely is not an overnight process. For me, it helps to set little challenges for myself that help me to physically experience and feel accomplished in overcoming things I presume I cannot. Examples of this can be running the extra two minutes even when you feel like you are going to collapse on the treadmill, smiling and saying hello to someone you don’t know very well even if you think you are risking ultimate embarrassment, or maybe it is just deciding to go to a different coffee shop or take a new walking route to test entering into the unfamiliar at a small scale. After successfully achieving the little goals you set for yourself, it is easy to gain a sense of empowerment that will help you to chip away at your larger personal inner walls, letting that warmth of light peek in, and eventually helping you to enter into an infinite space of possibility.

I highly recommend reading The Untethered Soul, as it does such an amazing job of underlying how much unreasonable attention we give the voices inside of our heads, along with helping to illuminate how to get to the point where life feels like it is an effortless, beautiful flow. We are all in a continual state of growth, but sometimes we hit those walls that require us to reflect on how we can push ourselves to bloom into beings that can truly make the most of every moment and surrender to the winds of life. Try to work on tuning out all the meaningless chatter that suggests that you can’t – it is time for us to be brave and slowly emerge out of the boxes we have placed ourselves in! Have a great week everyone! xoxo

Running Towards Your Fate - A Guest Piece

October 30, 2018 by Alannah Paren in Inspiration, Guest Writings

The following excerpt is written by my dear friend, Kaitlyn Uythoven. She never fails to amaze me with all of her incredible accomplishments, and I am grateful to have her in my life as one of my most genuine and supportive friends. I hope that her words will inspire you in the way that they have for me and provide a new voice, while conveying a similar message. The photos accompanying this post are also her own. Enjoy!

Over the last few months I’ve done a lot of running. I’ve run away from a lot and I have run towards a lot. I’ve become really good at clocking miles on barren roads that ramble through the tangles of my reality, my mind, and my heart. Life is like an ultra-marathon that you end up running without looking at the route beforehand. One moment you are hurdling down a descent with a wild, reckless spirit and the feeling that the future is full of endless possibility and unbounded room for growth. The next moment, that seemingly weightless sensation is tested and you find yourself drained on an ascent through adversity, doubt, broken trust, and all sorts of disillusioned expectations. Somewhere in the middle of the race, you learn to rely on your self-direction and to trust the process.

To bring this all into a more tangible thread of thought, the last few months have taught me that strength is about trusting when you have a reason not to. Strength is about loving people and situations even when you feel like your life has been blanketed in darkness. It’s about finding peace within yourself and embracing all of the minute complexities that make you inherently human.

For the bulk of my life, I have been a believer in the concept that if you fought for whatever you loved with enough ferocity, you could single-handedly control and guide your future with a little perseverance. While I still believe that this can be true and that John Wooden’s famous adage that luck is a residue of good design can still be valid, I have also learned that there are limitations to that belief. Holding onto something fleeting is futile; it inhibits the beauty of freedom and growth. Whereas, learning to let go, to thank those that hurt you and contributed the most to your own self-discovery, and embracing the fear of the unknown is extraordinarily powerful. Once one can do as such, they will often discover the next door to success, innovation, and greatness.

Running is similar to life in this regard. The author of Born to Run, Christopher McDouugall explains the connection the best by describing that when you start a new run on a new trail, “you never know how hard it will be or when it will end. You can’t control it, you can only adjust.” To embrace a challenge like that, you have to possess strength. But even more so, you have to carry gratitude, forgiveness, perspective, dedication, and patience.

There is something that is almost eerily beautiful and reassuring about the idea of fate and how it is inextricably connected to life and running. I believe that most events in peoples’ lives serve some kind of higher purpose and that fate brings those to the forefront. Recently, fate has guided me through life events and has introduced me to people that made me fall in love with running. Fate and running have given me a lot; I’ve found understanding, purpose, direction, and challenge. Somewhere along a run and along the way I discovered that light can be found even in the places that seem overpoweringly dark. So, at the end of the day, be fearless in your ability to trust others, even if they have hurt you. Life has a way of working itself out in the most unexpected of ways.

Enriching Reads: Installment #2

January 27, 2018 by Alannah Paren in Enriching Reading, Inspiration

Robert Frost once said, “Poetry is when an emotion found its thought and the thought has found words.” A couple years ago, I was on a weekend trip in the snowy woods, and I found myself in one of the cutest little bookstores ever. Being an avid writer and reader, I always get excited when I discover new, unique shops that support the written word, especially in its printed form. As I skimmed the titles on the shelves, this yellow book, tucked away on the very bottom shelf, struck me. And that is how I happened upon “The Gift,” which I feel truly lives up to its title, and I hope through me sharing this with you, you feel as though a little piece of magic has been bestowed upon you as well.

I regard Hafiz’s “The Gift” as one of the most influential collections of writing that I have ever read. His words provoke such profound thoughts and feelings, and when I first read his poems, I was overwhelmed with this sense of connection that I had never fully experienced before. It amazed me that someone could write about concepts so far ahead of my time, yet touch me with them in a way that made me feel as if they were directly written for me to absorb. Hafiz’s poems helped me to put in perspective that we are all loved and never lonely, thanks to the powerful universe that we belong to.

Excerpt from The Gift — Excerpt from *The Gift*

In the first verse of his poem “Looking for Good Fish,” Hafiz writes:

Why complain about life

If you are looking for good fish

And have followed some idiot

Into the middle of the copper market?

I interpreted this segment, which is representative of the poem as a whole, to mean that if we focus on the negative or continue to pursue paths that don’t proactively help your case, you really don’t have the authority to complain. His poem resolves in teaching us that we shouldn’t look beyond ourselves for fulfillment, love, and other emotional contentment, since we all have the universe flowing within us and have all been intentionally placed within this world that was created out of love.

Hafiz, who was a Sufi master, has such an amazing way of highlighting the common threads throughout all of humanity and illuminating our oneness with the world. I think another beautiful aspect is that because it is poetry, it can be interpreted in multiple ways, further supporting the idea that we all experience similar feelings, just in different situations. Even if you just want to indulge in a few of Hafiz’s poems, I highly recommend seeking out his words. I hope this post and suggestion brings you some enlightenment! Feel free to comment below your favorite poem, thoughts that you experienced through them, or other reading suggestions!

The Gift - Poems by Hafiz the Great Sufi Master by Hafiz, Daniel Ladinsky [26 August 1999]

Penguin Books Australia

Buy on Amazon

Being a Warrior Within

January 12, 2018 by Alannah Paren in Inspiration

Moving into this fairly new year, there seems to be a worldly trend of reaching out and speaking up. The momentum is building up for a major breakthrough in standing up for our values and correcting injustices on various scales. Today’s media is loaded with news in regards to people coming out and speaking up in an effort to make the world a more honest environment. And while we might not all be making the headlines, I think it is important to recognize that we all have the strength to rise up and confront situations and issues that our souls do not approve of.

As we journey through life, we continue to grow and uncover more of life’s truths each and every day. Therefore, we must allow our values to evolve with us, recognizing that what we stand for can change (and hopefully this is for the better as we begin to appreciate what truly matters in life). I know from personal experience that as I have transitioned into adulthood, it has been harder for me to un-see or not acknowledge some ugly realities within our society. Small comments, jokes, and even the lack of compassionate actions no longer go over my head, and I often feel the urge to do my part and call people out in an effort to end the perpetual cycle of injustice that seems to be ingrained in our society. This isn’t always easy though, as the people near and dear to us are not immune from having different viewpoints that we might not be able to wholeheartedly support. Sometimes, instead of confrontation, we have to leave the situation at knowing in our own hearts we wouldn’t say the same thing or act in the same way (I am still trying to teach and remind myself of this, as I tend to make my feelings known…we are all human!).

Along these lines of being a warrior within, we must traverse the obstacles of life with our health and happiness in perspective. Although at times it might feel like we are helpless or weaker than someone else, we all have strength within us that increases with every action we take to better ourselves. For instance, in my own life, I was dealing with a situation in which I was scared of being alone and was compromising my own happiness out of fear. I make the analogy that there is one of those ancient balance scales in my head where eventually my strength slightly edged above my current situation, and I finally stood up for what I believed to be fairer. Showing myself that I was strong and could speak up (and survive it!), invigorated and empowered me, allowing my vigor to carry into other areas of my life. I suppose the essence of what I am trying to convey, is that we all deserve a life that offers us maximum happiness, a life where we do not even have to consider if “the grass is greener on the other side” so to speak. That’s why we must guide our lives from a place of assertion, firmly rooted in our beliefs and playing our role in making the world as just as possible.

St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands // April 2015

Make 2018 the year of you and the change you want to see in the world around you. At times we might have to tread lightly, but if our soul seems discontent with something, we should not ignore that feeling. We must act from our hearts and know that we all have a warrior within. We all have a strong pillar of light that runs through us, not only connecting us to the universe and shielding us from negativity, but that can also guide us through our life decisions and clarify our next steps.

Have a stellar weekend everyone! Listen to your heart and soul, and let them direct you in ways that illuminate the truth!

Enriching Reads: Installment #1

January 05, 2018 by Alannah Paren in Enriching Reading

I often talk about ways in which we can better ourselves or take time to re-center, so I decided that in this new year it would be fun (and beneficial!) to start featuring some soul-enriching books. Not only can reading be used as an activity of meditation, helping to uplift and enlighten ourselves, but it can also bring us closer together as we digest the words and thoughts of another, and even discuss the presented topics with those around us. This past week I finished Brian L. Weiss’ book, Many Lives, Many Masters, and I found it to be so thought-provoking, bringing up topics that I have wanted to discuss myself here on the blog, so I knew I had to share it.

In this non-fictional account, Weiss shares his experiences as a psychiatrist who is taught to rely on science, but soon learns that there is something beyond us and beyond science. He delves into his sessions with a particular patient who comes to Weiss through her uncontrollable anxiety and is cured through his hypnosis sessions that uncover her past life experiences much to both of their surprise.

Excerpt of Many Lives, Many Masters — Excerpt of *Many Lives, Many Masters*

Although I highly recommend reading the book for yourself, the most interesting things that I took away from the book were: we each must pursue our lives for ourselves, since we all have individual lessons to learn as we journey towards complete wholeness, and the entire idea of living out our karmic debts and having purposeful interactions with the people we have been reincarnated with. I realize that not everyone believes in reincarnation, however I think we can all agree that we should extract as many lessons as we can and that having meaningful relations is a key tool in this. Essentially, Weiss offers the idea that as we live each life and learn more lessons, we progress on our spiritual journey and get closer and closer to our true selves, which therefore eliminates unnecessary stress, anxiety, and fears.

I hope everyone’s New Year is off to a healthy and happy start! Here’s to raising our vibrations and getting more in tune with our spirits within! Happy reading!

(Feel free to share book suggestions in the comments!)

Many Lives, Many Masters: The True Story of a Prominent Psychiatrist, His Young Patient, and the Past-Life Therapy That Changed Both Their Lives

By Brian L. Weiss

Buy on Amazon

Mood: Cloudy With a Chance of Happiness

December 01, 2017 by Alannah Paren in Inspiration

Entering into December and with the holidays (aka the season to be merry) right around the corner, I wanted to write about the reality of feeling depressed or apathetic, while still being happy or excited about certain things. In the past, I have had periods of time where I battled with deep ruts of depression, and more recently I have experienced times of apathy. It was the other day, when I was reflecting on how this past year has been full of some of the happiest moments of my life, while also acknowledging that I was going through some pretty strong negative emotions that were bringing me down, that I realized there isn’t a definitive line that restricts someone to solely being depressed or solely being happy. It occurred to me that life is a continuum of both sides of the spectrum of emotions, and that realization helped me shed a layer of anxiety and guilt I didn’t realize I was carrying with me. For the longest time I was subconsciously giving myself anxiety from the self-inflicted confusion that came from feeling thankful for aspects of my life and feeling excited for certain things, while at the same time feeling an intense darkness suffocating me overall.

I think one of the biggest things that come from situations of mixed emotions is guilt and confusion. Here we are, trying to focus on what we are grateful for and trying to stay positive, but then we are also feeling a cloud of gloom overhead. I know for me personally, this can either cause me to feel guilty for not being able to release my melancholy feelings (since I am always so eternally blessed and overjoyed to have the amazing people that I do in life), or it can cause conflict and uncertainty with myself since I cannot sort out why I am feeling opposing emotions. The moral to my story is that at the end of the day, we are all just trying to do the best that we can individually, day by day. This means that as long as we continue to give recognition to the things that we do have in life that make us happy, whether it be friends, family, or even looking forward to a holiday tradition, we are on the right path. And taking these positive steps in the right direction doesn’t make us any less human or any more immune to feelings of upset and depression.

In today’s society, I think we place a lot of pressure on the holiday season and teeter on the edge of focusing more on the negatives, claiming it’s a time when chances of gaining weight are higher and that hosting families and festivities is more stressful than enjoyable. So I think this winter presents itself as a great time to tackle some of the overwhelming adverse feelings we might have, while still allowing ourselves to be happy and look forward to certain seasonal merriments. I think it is also important to insert here, that there is in fact so much to appreciate during the holidays that often gets drowned out when we approach things with the mindset of “once the holidays are over, I’ll be able to relax.” If you find yourself being one of those people who do view the holidays in this way, challenge yourself this season to take the time to really soak in the cheer in the air and enjoy quality time spent with loved ones (something that might be rare if you are in college and living away from home like me!).

Overall though, regardless of what time of the year it is, this world is naturally filled with things that provoke sadness, even just turning on the news or checking a social media account can remind us of the things that we generally want to ignore. It is important though that through times of upset, we still try to see the positive, and hopefully these efforts will lead to an even bigger effect of lessening these sadness provoking things in our world. Hopefully we can move towards a society that has news that is more positive and inspirational.

Happy December 1st everyone!! Let’s embrace this month filled with spirit and gratitude!

Allowing for Imperfection

August 14, 2017 by Alannah Paren in Inspiration, Lifestyle

Although I continue to write about the importance of staying positive, I know that at times it can be hard to see the light in every situation that we face. Sometimes as humans we cannot help ourselves from feeling sad, distraught, discouraged, or hopeless. This post will aim at helping to overcome the tougher times in life and acknowledge our natural feelings.

We cannot always predict what life has in store for us; life is a journey of ups and downs. Even the most positive of people can experience the other end of the spectrum of emotions. When life throws something at you that evokes within you some sort of sadness, grief, confusion, or anger, it is important to not get frustrated with yourself. In my own life, if I find myself extremely distressed by something, I can sometimes fall into a pit of upset. However, it is important to keep in mind that we are inclined to react to different situations in certain ways, so in order to ease our experiences through challenging emotions, we must remind ourselves that such experiences are temporary and that we do have the strength to persevere. During life’s less happy times, the key is to acknowledge what we may be feeling, and with that, acknowledge that there will be more good times ahead just like there were before we fell into a more melancholy time. This goes along with trusting that we have divine guidance for our life path and that sometimes we must go through some tough times in order for life to fall into better place.

I think it is important to also recognize that although we might not always understand the situations we go through or feel like we have the power to persist, these are feelings that come naturally to most of us and we are not abnormal in any way. Even when it feels tough to stay positive and push through, just allowing ourselves to live out our validated feelings and knowing in the back of our minds that we have the potential to return to a life of optimism, is an act of staying hopeful. I know that often times it feels as though once one bad thing happens in life, things spiral into a pattern of negativity, but we must try our best to release the little annoyances and find the little things to be happy about.

The next time you are faced with a trying situation, don’t get frustrated with yourself or with life. Or better yet, know that your frustration is valid, but that it is not the only thing you can feel. Within us all is divinity that is there to guide us if we just listen and trust. I cannot stress enough how supported we all are, even when we are physically alone. Our souls all harness the energy and power of the universe that is available for us to tap into at any time. Life will throw what seem to be bumps and unfairness along the way, but we must look at life with multi-perspectives and realize that both the good and the bad times in life are temporary.

I would like to end this post with a mantra that someone very dear to me enlightened me with. It helped me heal in a time of unexplainable darkness that I truly did not ever think I would get out of, and regardless if you have ever resonated with the feelings of a deep depression, these words are an important reminder for all points in life.

“You are worthy because you exist, you exist because you are worthy.”