Life is often described as being a journey that follows some sort of path forward. Visually, we might imagine something like a line that we move along toward some final destination. While this visual helps us understand the forward momentum we all experience while moving through time, life rarely feels like we are moving along a perpetual straight line. There are far too many ups and downs!
Instead, we might prefer to imagine life as a line that shows progress - both upward (meaning we’ve grown) with occasional movements downward (meaning we’ve taken a pause or a step back before we continue moving forward again). This can feel more accurate. Life can often feel like we move forward only to take steps back... until we move forward again.
And, just because life can feel VERY hard and VERY confusing, it’s worth mentioning that there are times when the journey feels a bit like a line of complete chaos. If this resonates, and it all feels like a crazy jumble where you can’t tell up from down, you’re not alone. Figuring out who we are and what next steps to take can be challenging. In moments like these, we can give ourselves some love and consider that maybe something else is going on… Maybe, we’re not in a mess that makes no sense.
Maybe we’re just navigating life through an upward spiral.
Before we talk more about the upward spiral of life, take a look at the different ways we might visualize life that are mentioned above. Which one resonates with you most right now? Pay attention to how things might shift for you as we dig a little deeper into the upward spiral idea:
When looking at life as an upward spiral, it's important to note that we are always moving up - sometimes quickly and sometimes more slowly - but always up. And, because we are spiraling up, we are in fact always learning and growing, even when we can’t see it or things start to feel sticky!
We are always gaining consciousness.
You might be thinking: If I am always moving up, why does it feel like things I have already healed from are back again?
In these moments, we might be lined back up with an important point in our spiral. Even if this particular event happened 5, 10, 20 or even 30 plus years ago - we might be energetically feeling it again… but, this time from a higher perspective!
Sometimes the point we are lined back up with is clear: we are encountering the anniversary of something major in our lives and we can identify it easily. Other times, we might not be able to pinpoint why we are being pulled back into a memory or experience. In these moments, it can be helpful to visualize the upward spiral and notice what is coming up for you. Journaling a little bit about what you are sensing might help you organize your thoughts and shift some of the energy you are feeling from your mind to the page.
Looking at life as an upward spiral can help do several things:
It can offer more understanding and grace for ourselves if we are feeling things again that we “should be over.”
It can provide an opportunity to explore stored emotions and energy in the body. If we can pinpoint the event that we are lined up with, then we can also begin to release what we no longer need to hold onto now.
It can allow us to see how much we’ve grown. You aren’t the same as you were before. Notice how you are handling things differently now!
Remember: we have layers to our life experiences. It’s normal to need to explore those experiences and clear old energy many times!
How do you feel about this concept? Are there moments you can identify right now that are lining back up on your unique spiral?
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