And the real kicker is that all this and much more is best learned experientially. Meaning no matter what I say or what fabulous information and wisdom you learn from that teacher, book, class, or bus ride, none of it really comes home till you have the direct personal experience of these beliefs, till your beliefs are translated into deep cellular knowing.

So then what’s the point of reading books or seeking external information? I ask myself this very question all the time. Ideally, external information that resonates with you might trigger new experiences, or plant important seeds that allow for integral experiences to be had later, when your time is right. 

As all the wise ones say, it’s the journey, not the destination that counts. And they also tell us that it wasn’t until after they took that crazy journey around the world to find that pot of gold (enlightenment), that they truly “got it”. They returned home worn out, and perhaps even a little pissed off -- despite their many amazing adventures and accomplished learning – as they believed themselves to be gold-less. So they sank into bed, worn out, and felt something funny: a bump that was always there but they had never been sensitive enough to feel. When they look under the bed, they see, of course, the pot of gold. The “enlightenment” that they believed to be out there, far away, and something they had to go find and do and make happen, was there the whole time, shining away right inside there own home. Hilarious isn’t it?

The irony is that even if we believe that our truth and divinity is inside of us, we still, almost always, have to take the journey to really experience this knowing, to truly realize that we had it all along. So if you haven’t started the journey, it’s time. If you have already begun, here’s some inspiration to keep you going and some reminders of why this is so very important, and if you are already sitting there sharing butterfly kisses with your pot of gold, than perhaps this information will trigger some amusing memories or brave new insights, and most importantly, inspire you to start red booking your own way.