Heart As Compass

We’re being reminded here lately that when the rule of law decays in the culture, it’s usually because there are insufficient corrective measures to keep it in place. The implication is that we (especially the young) need to be aware of this decay when its occurring. It is the language of this discussion that made me want to add it to my Camino minutes. We’re talking about things like fairness, in...

Distraction is anything that puts us in our heads. The problem of course is that most of us are already there. Experts say in fact, 60,000 thoughts a day. Individuals on a different speed than the world around them can be challenging. Imagine ‘shame’ for speeding on the highway (as silly as that sounds) and you understand the anxiety, rapid speech, and hyperactive thinking of a distractible person...

I couldn’t help but wonder what the western world was doing the other day with the Pope’s reprieve from hell. If you missed it, the timing was interesting – it was just before Easter. The relief from hell only lasted a few hours. If you didn’t see it the headline read ‘Pope says Hell doesn’t exist.’ I had to laugh and thought could you imagine…right. But, the folks around him were quick to say tha...

When passing the midway point on the Potomac (92-93 miles) the thought occurred to me that this would be a wonderful time to tell you a story—in particular—your story. One that captures your beginnings but doesn’t get your attention until the midway point on your path (35-45 years of age). You can tell me if it resonates.

If there is one repetitive theme that psychology sees in the human experience it is the conditioning that there is a right and wrong way to be. If you’ve been alive for very long, you’ve probably learned that rules nor morals actually change behavior.

If anyone is connected to Oprah, I strongly encourage you to have her people seek me out. Her recent quote on GMA captures the core of Intentional Guided Evolution a psychospiritual model of the human condition born out of my work with severe trauma. Though her words are beautifully valid, the culture lacks a context for the internal GPS she speaks of.

Emma Gonzales created the most poignant moment of the March on the 24th—with silence. 6 minutes and 20 seconds of not speaking created the reflection and introspection that happens when we are directed inward. Though the silence was striking, even solemn, it was a reminder that some things are beyond words.

Inner lives matter becasuse this dimension can be known. We need to remember that our inner world can be influenced by the ego but NOT controlled. The human heart knows our past but can still live in the present. Because of this gift, the heart demands to be heard! Ironically, the ego has more supporters because we’re asleep to the choices available. Our nature is to explore, inquire, and ask ques...

We would all agree that the excessive chatter of ego can rob our attention. We’ve also learned this distraction is at it’s worst when our inner whisper becomes a scream. While feelings desire a reciprocal communication with ego, emotions simply condemn and demand obedience. Feeling and emotiing is the difference between re-acting or re-enacting our lives. Spiritually, we need to know the source of...

The soul’s wisdom can be ‘dimmed’ by our external lives so much so that we are guided by the ego’s negative self-assessment. The problem becomes that the ego (unless present) cannot experience ‘feelings’ in real-time. Nor, can it SEE that it’s not the observer. Thus, the biggest trick it plays is getting us to believe IT is, in fact, our witness. It accomplishes this by teaching us that a thought/...

We learn very early (and come to believe) that the ego is in charge of our lives. However, the ache in our heart is the hint that this is false. Human angst is our longing to correct a broken spirit or the incongruence between life events and our feelings. When we believe the ego’s distortion of lack or loss, we shift from spiritual suffering to psychological victim. This is why there is no rest f...

The differences between the WAY of ego and soul could not be more different. The ego stores beliefs and judgments of the culture and pairs them with our feelings to make emotions. For many, it leaves them swimming in pain. The soul’s objective and neutral vantage point allows us to react or feel our way until we discern the truth of the moment. While the ego devalues our feelings with judgment, th...

The sequence is clear. We begin spiritual and have to adapt to a psychological existence. Separated from the creator, and in a very short amount of time, we develop an ego to survive. As time passes, this ego becomes divided against the self or culture. The stage is set - life becomes a struggle between competing forces: inside and out. If we become depressed about this predicament, we will go thr...

There is a low-level feeling (versus emotion) that has permeated the culture. Many of us would call it grief - a wish to reverse our sensation of loss. The question: What is it exactly that we think we’ve lost? It seems from a spiritual perspective, an illusion has fallen. The possibility that we have a shadow side, whether it's personal or collective, for many is uncomfortable and others unaccept...

We’ve recently learned how anger can haunt us with a whisper. Little and vulnerable we can exhibit our anger by lashing out at the self or others. This is our first preview of the human spirit’s relationship to ego. We either retrieve the soul’s connetion (lost self) or the haunting will persist. You’ve heard the BIG question ‘Why do human beings suffer?’ These teachings give us the answer. Enteri...

The Soul’s Intent encourages that we should never ignore our inner voice. Also, that the emotions that accompany these voices are not negative. It is their pairing that teaches and causes growth. We must re-enact the injustice of losing ourselves to hurt feelings if we are to ever recover our connection to our spiritual (soul) beginning. Feelings (before wounding) are manageable. When those feelin...

Have you ever been so angry or sad that it consumed your thinking? Such feeings can be overwhelming, so much so that many of us ‘numb’ ourselves in defense. Anger turned inward takes on the form of low-level resentment. Self-blame, self-punisment, and self-loathing impedes our spirit and divides us. In this podcast we discuss the changefrom feeling to emotional beings and shifting back.

Our inner voice develops when we are children. Initally, it is felt as incongruence between what our heart knows and our ego believes. Little do we know human suffering (passion) begins when we dare to question why. This is the birth of the human spirit. By design, our agnst begins the long journey of preserving truth against the overwhelming beliefs of the personal and collective ego. Tune in as...

Psychospiritual means utilizing psychological theories of human development to identify and heal the ego’s division, while simultaneously giving station to the soul, spirit, and heart for navigation.

There is a need in today’s culture to have a definition of spirituality that aligns with what many would consider truth. The problem is ten people would give you ten different definitions. Tune in as we expand our discussion to a pure description of spirituality. One that offers integrity in an otherwise blurry dimension of the human experience.

Philosophy comes from the Greeks meaning ‘the love of wisdom.’ In the context of The Soul’s Intent wisdom is a disposition to find the truth coupled with a clarity as what to do once you have it. Developing wisdom is a key benefit of a psychospiritual perspective. Tune in as we discuss how this virtue unfolds in the human experience.

To pretend is to cause (or attempt to cause) what is not so to seem ‘as if’ it is. This is the creative act of pretending or imagining. Not to run from the truth or fuel a delusion, rather to discover a new perspective or create something that wasn’t there before. Psychology says that pretending joy or happiness can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. This simple but awake practice can help us discover...

We hear all the time that some of life's greatest lessons are hiding in plain sight. You can see as a spiritual being when you close your eyes and try to see with something else. This is the vision of the human heart. It’s a perspective that allows us to feel our way through something versus grope in the dark. The ego automatically thinks it needs to have some sort of intellectual engagement with...

We witnessed this past weekend what happens when the human spirit provokes us into passion and purpose. During the peaceful demonstration of healing and saying 'enough is enough' many are realizing (some for the first time) that this is what it means to have an inner life. *It was/is a spiritual moment! (*Though my cohost Irma Francis sounds telephonic in this recording the content was too good no...

An often-asked question is: How do you tell the difference between your soul's guidance versus your ego's interference? In order to understand this particular show a couple of assumptions are made: the first is human beingx have a soul, the second assumption is that our soul operates as the observer of life. That being said we can proceed to look at how the soul's intent is quite different from th...