For the Soul

-Langston Hughes

A Center

-Ha Jin

The Road not Taken

-Robert Frost

You are the Seed

If you close your eyes and think about your life, can you recall a time you were in a sunken place? What were you going through? How did you feel? What kinds of thoughts flowed through your mind? What did you tell yourself? What did you start to believe about yourself? Then again, perhaps, even now, you may be finding yourself in this darkness. Perhaps you know what it’s like to feel...buried.

Take a breath. Have you ever stopped to realize that the sense of being buried is a choice? Take the metaphor of the seed planted in the ground. What does the seed eventually become, if its nourished? It grows out of the ground, and extends, into the waking world. It becomes something far greater than its current form. What would the seed say to us while it was underground?

Was it stuck, or was it slowly emerging to the surface?

This is the heart of the mantra, You are a seed.

Think about it.

Trauma, surviving abuse, depression, anxiety, poor self esteem, relationship problems, loneliness, suicidal thoughts...all the facets of human suffering you may have endured in your lifetime...these trials and tribulations can certainly make us feel buried. But this is not the natural law. We actually choose to view our shortcomings as the things that define us. We choose to suffer inside our darkness. We choose to feel buried.

Had those horrible things not happened to you, had you not experienced waves of darkness in your life, would you have inherited the strength, wisdom, street smarts, and survival skills you now uphold? Is it possible that you were given this life because you alone could handle it? Is it possible that you alone were made to manifest in spite of your pain? What happens...when you embrace your identity as the seed? The rough conditions that created you...now become...in their own way...purpose.

I dare you to challenge yourself. Challenge those core beliefs about yourself. Are you buried, or are you a seed? What are your greatest unmet needs in this life? What do you need more of? What nourishes you? Can you see through the soil to witness a future that belongs only to you and your dreams?

You must change your view.

It will change your life.

You are the seed.

The Miracle Question

Clarity is one of the great gifts we give ourselves, and we achieve it when we go through personal breakthroughs, deep within us. Do you need to hone in on what really needs to change in your private life in order for you to become the change you wish to see? If so, ask yourself the “miracle question.”

“Self…Imagine you fell asleep tonight. Overnight, unbeknownst to you, a great and powerful miracle occurs. The only sign you have of its occurrence is that, upon waking and noticing the start of your day, that problem you’ve been having no longer exists.”

With this in mind, ask yourself, how would you feel? How would life be? What would be different and better and fulfilling now?

Insoo Kim Berg and Steven de Shazer, the renowned solution focused psychotherapists, coined the term “miracle question” in their development of the brief therapy model, as it aimed at identifying that underlying missing piece, we as individuals must come to acknowledge if we are to change our lives. Give yourself the gift of clarity, ask yourself the miracle question, and then focus your own healing, treatment, and diligence on getting the results you’re seeking.

“No gasp at a miracle that is truly miraculous because the magic lies in the fact that you knew it was there for you all along.” ― Toni Morrison

Songs that Heal

Take a moment. Close your eyes, breathe in, breathe out.
Now, join me in this moment.
If you check in with yourself, slowing time down to a calm pace...What do you notice?
We are surviving perilous times, each of us. The 2020s have been trying years. Amid the aftermath of the pandemic, the shattered economy, current recession, major societal changes, and more, there has never been a time exactly like this one. Yet there is another world that exists parallel to this one, though, and something tells me you are privy to it. It’s the Sound World, and there are many songs that heal. What music tracks have gotten you through tough times before? I invite you to send me yours. We all can channel our inner resiliency by tapping into our very own unique Sound World. Here are some songs that heal, and I invite you to share yours.

You Gotta Be, Des’ree
I Turn to You, Melanie C
Keep Looking, Sade
Mandisa, Overcomer
Survivor, Destiny’s Child
I’m Getting ready, Michael Kiwanuka
Walking on Sunshine, Katrina and the Waves
Leader of the Band, Dan Fogelberg
By the Sea, Morcheeba
I Belong to You, Sabrina Claudio

Strength & Love, Steven
Email your self-motivation playlist and we’ll post it on the site: manifestyoutherapy@gmail.com