Standing and Living in Truth
Maybe it’s the change of the season or maybe it’s the recent lunar eclipse that stirred up a lot of toxic and negative energy in the air this past week. My body happened to pick up on it. So I had to tend to it and needed to do some detoxing, releasing all of that which didn’t belong to me. I hope you are also giving your body much needed tender loving care as we’re inching towards more colder and darker days. Your body is your only vehicle through life—honor it, care for it, and listen to its signals when it calls out for rest and restoration.
I have been spending a lot of time in personal reflection lately. Lots of insights and writing have been pouring out of me, randomly and so fast, way before I could even get to my desk to record them all down.
One of the most important yet painful realizations I had to face early in life is that the world we live in can try to mold and shape us into somebody else, to fit into their version of reality, deter us from our path and take us far away from our center. But who would I be today had I allowed the world and the systems, setbacks and failures, statistics and data, charlatans and naysayers to have their way with me and dictate who and how I should be or how my future should look like? Who would I be today if I didn’t believe in myself, and my personal path of truth?
Here is a personal disclosure from me. Many times, I was called a rebel and radical, perceived as a threat, and intimidated by those in position of power, both in my professional and personal life, just because I stood my ground, challenged the status quo and advocated for change—questioning policies, system-imposed treatment modalities and conscious/unconscious biases of authority, defying outdated traditional beliefs, limiting worldview, cultural and familial expectations that are just outright unjust, unkind and unhealthy. But I have long decided that conventional is an adjective that does not fit me.
While it has not been easy, I have somehow managed to find my way to fulfill my own longing, my own dreams and my personal healing, with little resources and hardly any support from those of my own blood or those I trusted, but with years of prayers, faith, meditation, reflection, perseverance, hard work, self-discipline, self-compassion and loving-kindness. Along this journey, I have been fortunate to have crossed paths with other like-minded travelers, who are wisdom holders, truth tellers, healers, mentors and teachers. They have inspired me greatly and affirmed what I have always believed, what spiritual leaders and ancient sages have long noted—that the change we wish to see in our world is the exact change we must cultivate within us. And the most important, yet, also the hardest work of all, is the work on ourselves. That inner work is an ongoing process that I have continually engaged in, so that I can keep showing up and be a joyful, mindful and healing presence for others.
You see, one of the most beautiful things about standing and living in our own truth is that it frees us and heals us; it can empower others to do the same. It also repels the ones who deny and refuse to accept it. But in timely manners, the truth always comes out—it removes the façades and reveals for the world to see what has always been hidden and lurking in the shadow all along. And when it does, it is quite a show, though it may not always be pleasant to watch.
As I’m well aware, that’s what trauma can do to its survivors. When the trauma wound left unattended and unhealed, when its shadows disowned and unacknowledged, through time it can turn its victims into enablers, bystanders, and perpetrators—many disguised as helpers with fancy titles, preying on the blind and the vulnerable, adding more shame and stigma to the noble vocation, oppressing and keeping people imprisoned in their own sickness, plaguing our systems and society with their own darkness. They are the walking wounded among us.
And that is how the cycle goes on—the wheel of samsara (Buddhism), also known as trans-generational or intergenerational trauma.
Remember, at the core, you are a beautiful being. That is the essence of who you are. Return to you. That is where your true power lies. Once you remember who you are, situations in the external world are just like clouds—they pass, but you, the observer, remain.
Stay in your center. Stay in truth. Stay in love. Stay gold.
Be you. Love you. Nourish you. Honor you. All the ways. Always.
Personal note: For those whom I have met and yet to meet along this journey, I am deeply grateful to you for your support and kindness. Although we may not be in the same space or in communication with each other at this time, you are in my thought. Perhaps, one day we’ll get a chance to come together and collaborate. I see you. I hear you. I know your heart. I sense your loving energies. Thank you. -Hoa