Heaven to Earth - a reflection on the spiritual journey

"Are flowers not the stars of the Earth, and are not stars the flowers of the heavens? This quote has really spoken to me because those on a spiritual journey often look to the heavens, the stars, and the universe for ultimate guidance. This is often the case because the world has treated us unfairly to some degree, and we lose hope in finding love, guidance, and purpose within the natural world and within reality. So, we become obsessed with the deeper meaning and what's beyond the now. We ask ourselves, 'Why are we here?' Many of us receive answers, and we may see our spiritual guides or understand that this is all quantum mechanics, or we may learn to open our third eye and see the vast expanse of the universe.

This is an important part of the spiritual journey because it provides us with a greater timeline in which we can see that our current struggle or even our lifelong struggle is just a small blip in the experiences that our souls have undergone. This gives us peace. We begin to understand that we are just humans living an experience to learn and evolve. What we come to understand is that we are merely energy moving and evolving throughout time and space, and our humanness is real but temporary. With that, we begin to find gratitude in our human experience, seeing the larger whole makes us feel the beauty of the finiteness of just a moment.

It can be easy to chase the spiritual guidance of the stars, to dream, to astral project, to stay out of the body, and to chase those moments of connection with the expanse of the universe. However, we are meant to use this guidance and come back to Earth and to our bodies. We cannot continue to chase the heavens; we must find the heavens within the life we have here, in the present, in the space our bodies occupy. Whether we like it or not, we are tied to this Earth for the time being, and we must find the beauty and awe that we found in the stars here on Earth. We can start with the flowers.

Once we heal our spirit, and realize that we are here to grow and expand through experience, we can begin to heal our mind, body, heart, and so much more. We can find purpose by connecting deeper and deeper with our earthliness. And when we miss the guidance of the stars, we find the guidance of the flowers, we connect with the Earth and the land. We understand the cycles of growth, decay, and rebirth. We realize what it means to be human and to be birthed by Mother Earth. It means hardship and scarcity, but also abundance, joy, and emotion. It means creation, building, friendships, and connection. We build love-centered, grounded relationships with those here on Earth, within our journey."

During COVID, I became a meditator. But I became an avid meditator, a third-eye, astral projection, spiritual guidance seeker. I became vegan and ate only stir-fried food to allow me to be as light as possible. The connection I had with the spiritual realm, with dreams and visions, and cosmic insight was far more important to me than my life on Earth and my relationships. I spent hours a day meditating.

One day I realized that I was hardly living a human experience. I understood that I was here to learn and evolve, that I had lived many lives, that I was just as much "me" as I was the next person, and that I had lessons to learn. But if I spent all my time meditating, how would I experience human life? How would I evolve if I was frozen in time, living only a dream?

I will say that this time led me to the confidence and trust in my ability to make up the world as I pleased. I now knew that there were people and spirits cheering me on for the evolution of all consciousness and that my part in this world was a small but beautiful piece in the expansion of the universe. I understood that I was just a blip of the original energy that made up the universe. I began creating manifesting and believing in a new life for myself without doubt and helplessness; this was essential. The universe gave me this token to take with me in life.

And then I began coming back to the world. I manifested a partner, had fun in my friendships again, and saw the value and gratitude in everything in my life. One day I stepped into Rebecca's Herbal Apothecary for the first time, and my life changed forever. I began learning about the medicine within the earth. When I was young, I knew of it intuitively. I spent much of my days outdoors on the farm, but this reconnected me with Mother Nature and its ability to heal. I went weekly to the apothecary and sat at the herbal wall with what seemed like a hundred jars of beautiful herbs and plants behind the kind and insightful herbalists. Every time I came in, I asked as many questions as I could. I'd see a plant and ask what benefits it's known for, then I'd buy some and make, at first, some disgusting teas. But I am sure they were jam-packed with medicines. As I spent more time with herbal medicine, I began to notice the subtle spirit that lay even in the dried flowers. Each plant tells a story. It tells you of a different feeling or emotion; it reminds you of an experience or a memory. Each plant is a part of the human experience. You see your journey through grief, pain, sickness, sadness, light, love, beauty, and everything in between in a plant. They are symbols of humanness, and they are right here on Earth for you to be with. That is so beautiful to me, for I can never be lonely in the presence of flowers. We evolve together with the stars of the earth,