There is pain in getting your wings cut off every single time, in knowing you’re meant to fly but told you’re supposed to walk. 

The wings grow weaker each time they’re cut off from your back, there is pain in those deep bleeding wounds, there is a void in your core from the emptiness that resides, there is a presence of an absence so strong, so demanding. 

And in believing your wings are nothing but a liability, you see them as a weight, a burden you must carry with you, instead of glorious streaks ornating your back like armor.

To cut off something so deeply intertwined with your physical being and spiritual self, is to remain vulnerable. To rely on unsteady feet when you know you can soar high up in the sky.

To live in alignment, is to live in accordance with your values and core beliefs. It’s doing what your soul was made to do, it’s listening fully to your heart.

It’s the freedom to be who you truly are, without fear of inadequacy, unacceptance and judgment. It’s the freedom to not shy away from what you’re meant to do because it’s too big for your small environment.

Like a bird unable to spread its wings in a measly cage.

Real freedom is not in doing what you want to do, but in not doing what you don’t want to do.

Life In Alignment.

I read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho when I was 15. At that time, it was the most revolutionary piece of literature I could find. 

Follow your heart; the book’s main message, showcased in a story of travel across the desert for a treasure. 

All I did after that was, in fact following my heart. And all it meant to me back then was to pay more attention to my thoughts and feelings, listening carefully with no judgment.

So many years later, the book does not hold as much weight as it did back then. And now I believe that feelings are not always right, they’re not always a reflection of personal truth, sometimes feelings and thoughts are not even ours at all.

Sometimes the compass with which we walk our own desert path has been meddled with. Leading us to a path that is not ours to travel.

And what alignment means to me now is to have my mind, heart, soul and actions moving harmoniously through this transitory world.

State of Flow.

The flow is a state of mind, a state of being where an individual is so deeply immersed in what they’re doing that the notion of time ceases to exist.

Passionate artists achieve a state of flow in practicing art, but a painter will never experience flow when made to be a teacher. A heart that does not accept a thing will never let creative energy flow through the mind and body.

They will become vessels for robotic instructions.

Peace of Mind & Fulfillment.

“Give up whatever troubles the peace of your mind.”

Our soul, heart, intuition, subconscious mind, gut or whatever else you want to call it, knows what our conscious minds don’t.

Oftentimes, in listening intently to yourself, you can uncover much more than you might think. 

I always believe that “I already have the answers within me.”

But most people have been ignoring their inner voice for so long, it’s nothing but a whisper, or a constant anxiety and a state of sadness that they accuse another thing of.

Living in alignment does not mean following only what feels good. 

Life on earth is characterized by contrast. Joy and sadness, health and sickness. The state of living is a state of constant polarity.

There will still be hardship in following what you want, there could still be resistance and fear. Does that mean it’s wrong?

Life Out of Alignment.

Restlessness & Dissatisfaction.

By depriving a bird of its ability to fly, and convincing it that all it’s ever meant to do is be in one place, with years of training and programming, you will succeed in making it succumb to your wishes, in taking away its essence.

But what is a bird if not a free being soaring in a limitless sky?

You can sit at a job you hate all you want, convincing yourself that it’s good enough, and your coworkers aren’t that bad, and the paycheck is all that matters, and there’s nothing you could really do.

And you’ll believe it, most of the time, you will.

But a glimpse, a late sleepless night, a distant dream, can shatter all your lies, destroy the bones you keep as bars around the heart imprisoning a bird that will unravel its wings.

A white bird with streaks of gold like a crown atop its head.

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📝 Author’s Note

I’ve lived long enough in alignment to know it’s how I never want to live ever again. (I blame my self-awareness for that).

Being out of alignment for me looks like: constant anxiety and overwhelm, insomnia, feelings of inadequacy… And what it actually means for me personally is whenever I don’t write for too long, or some other responsibility gets in the way.

I’ve also felt it in school, when my major seemed very far off from my personality and the life I want to have.

My environment is currently the only way I’m living ‘out of alignment’. Otherwise, I’ve gotten pretty good at listening to myself, while understanding the difference between something I should actually give up, and something that I’m currently scared of, but is ultimately good for me.
Can’t say I’m perfect at it.

I believe it’d be great if everyone lived in alignment with their soul. Not everyone wants the same things. Some people have a real passion for cleaning, or cooking, and in it they find love and life. So there will never be a saturation of only one thing.

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