About the Story
In the Biblical story, G-d commands Abraham “lech lecha”, which translates as “go to yourself”
a strange phrase
and a curious demand
perhaps the first example of travel being a journey not to place
but to knowledge of self
The man who “found G-d” was told to leave everything and search for his own knowing
Leaving behind everything for YOU may include:
all the boxes that confine you
the opinions of others that shape you
all that you have been told and taught that you are
In the story, Abraham found himself, and by doing so came to recognize the Source of life that was within him
dare I say:
This story is still living today
All of our lives are quests, towards our Source
to become our name
and perhaps be so lucky as meet our True Self
Like Abraham, We Are All Called to Journey
No-one can do it for you
but (I would sneakily suggest)
The Lighter Life has some experience in accompanying you…
Psychotherapy traditionally teaches people to find reasons for their suffering based on the upbringing, their parents, or their traumas.
Other forms of psychology look to environmental factors for explanations, cultural or social factors for reasons.
Some forms of psychology tell us that we have different parts, others tell us that we can learn new behaviors, whilst others say that trauma or memories are locked in the body and need to be released.
I am not negating the legitimacy of these theories. But I am saying that they are not enough.
These approaches can keep people living in the past, blaming their parents or playground bullying for everything, can keep people from living, keep them stuck in a story, a reason, a diagnosis.
The approach of The Lighter Life was in many ways developed by unlearning my education. I have a global and rich educational toolkit: A Master’s degree in Psychology (University of Witwatersrand), a Licentiate of Trinity College of London, RYT Yoga Therapy, Sampoorna India and IFS, EFT and movement therapy trainings from the UK, US and Europe.
This education has been a privilege and provided me with the theoretical bones to understand the human condition and the healing process.
But, it was when I finally took the Hero’s Journey (Joseph Campbell famously writes about this concept) from being a concept in my therapy rooms to being a lived-experience, that I learned about what it may entail to truly face the past, know thyself, and heal intergenerational trauma.
Much like Abraham’s “lech lecha”, the hero must leave her home and go out into the world to discover for herself.
The hero will be given tests (Abraham was given ten) which must be overcome.
These tests CREATE , and are ESSENTIAL STEPS in, the healing.
From the very start lies the clue, the answer, the help, but the hero will only be able to see these once she has learned to stand on her own, to trust herself, to overcome.
Finally, when all the tests and obstacles have been met, and the clue has been uncovered, the hero returns home.
Home is the starting point, who she always was but needed to discover for herself. In the process of return she brings gifts to all those that she left behind, she heals them by healing herself.
This journey is what we create together in the work that is The Lighter Life.
“lech lecha” is an approach that calls upon responsibility
It is not enough to understand your childhood, to find reasons for your suffering or explain your behavior based on family-patterns.
It is your responsibility to step into your own journey, to become the hero that can create the narrative of their own life.
Your story can change when you decide to step into it.
In this approach, you will discover that you are already living a heroic journey.
The words that we use have a powerful impact on how we think about ourselves and our lives. When we begin to tell your story in a new way, you take on a new role in your life.
Your life changes through the story that you tell.
It begins here:
Go, go away from the blame, the victimhood, the old stories, and discover, actually discover who you can be in this life that you were given.
In my own story of “lech lecha”, it started with Mexico.
Mexico was the taste, the gift, the promise of all that life can be.
But the gift is given, and the true journey is what we work for.
I did not stay in Mexico. That would have been too easy. I may not have gone through the trials and tribulations that made me more able, more equipped, to hold the complexities of life and be able to help others to hold theirs.
I was given the promise in Mexico, and then began the true journey.
From Mexico, I took the initial gift and applied it to life, allowing places to represent phases of life, emotional or psychological states of being, and how we are moved by life, changed by life, and overcome in life.
The promise of Mexico was always there as a reminder.
Sometimes I forgot, sometimes in the forgetting the darkness overshadowed the light.
But ultimately my story is a story of return. If it is for me, I believe it can be for you too.
In this section I will not go into the details of what was learned in each place, see resources for more!
Why is being an artist in your life important?
When I use art in any of its forms to express myself I am sending a message to my-self that I give me permission to be and discover being ME.
What happens next?
I am relieved, it is a big relief to be given this permission and to see that your artist will be nurtured and taken care of. When I am in this kind of relationship with my self, I will then see and think about others in the same way. They too deserve to self-express, they too have an artist, they too should be given permission to be them.
So what happens then?
Well, instead of trying to control or even understand other people in our lives, we start to enjoy and appreciate them as the artists that they are. So, being an artist is good, not only for you, but for everyone you know too.