Re-Connecting #10- Journey of Self-Discovery

Who am I? This is an ageless question asked by countless seekers on their journey of self-discovery.

Do you attribute your temperament to your ancestral make-up or zodiac sign?

How strongly do you identify with your gender, country, religious upbringing?

What books have helped you understand who you are and why you’re here?

What tools have helped you know & accept your personality type?

What has shaped your way of perceiving the world?

From the moment we’re born, we embark on a journey of self-discovery, trying to find our place in relation to our parents, families, communities, social & professional circles, world and beyond.

Who am I? How do I fit in? Where do I fit in? Do I need to fit in?

This journey of self-understanding and identity building is as unique as you are.

“Journey of Self-Discovery”, painting #10 in my Re-Connecting Collection, visually represents what’s helped me understand who and what I am in this lifetime. 

As you keep reading, reflect on what your painting would include.

Journal or sketch it out as part of your re-connecting to your True Self on your path of purpose.

I’ll admit that when I painted the coloured background at the top of this painting, I hadn’t intended for it to look like the female reproductive system.

That’s often how it works in intuitive painting. It was the shape of this birthing canal that inspired my decision to include my genetic makeup.

I was born in a French Canadian Catholic family in Ottawa, the capital of Canada. My ancestry is 1/8 German, 1/8 Irish, and 3/4 French.

That’s from the earthly perspective.

From a spiritual perspective, however, I believe that I’m an individualized expression of the Divine. I sense it as Truth that we’re all part of that Divine Oneness. That’s why I included a big 3-D drop of gold paint at the very top, representing that drop of the pure divine essence some call God.

Being born into this world from the Spirit World, I chose to paint an angel as the representation of my team of Divine Helpers and other souls who agreed ahead of time to support me in various ways on my earthly journey.

This angel looks very much like the ones in the stained-glass windows at the Notre Dame Basilica in Ottawa – where I received the intuitive message to create this collection.

It was only after I’d painted the top that I realized I’d forgotten to include something that identified me as Canadian. Oops. Yet, it’s a strong part of my identity.

My background living & working in the nation’s capital for many years gave me a good background on what it meant to be Canadian.

But it was when I was teaching about Canada during my 5 years in the Czech Republic and South Korea that I realized how little I truly knew. That’s when I set the intention to discover who I was in relation to this huge land I called home.

Since then, I’ve lived & worked in 5 provinces and have visited the other 5. I’ve yet to explore the 3 territories though.

Until my next intuitive call, I’m happy to continue living on the island of Newfoundland, which I’ve called home since 2011.

So – that’s where that big red maple leaf comes in – added once I’d already painted the other central elements.

First were the 2 triangles pointing in different directions – up for the masculine and down for the feminine. These help shape the overlapping circles and the sacred geometry of the Vesica Pisces. If you’re familiar with my art, you know I use this symbol of two becoming one a lot.

In the sweet spot – the shape at the middle of the two circles – is the third eye. Intuition. My life has been shaped by connecting to my True Self and following my inner guidance around the world. It’s helped me see myself and others through a different perspective – one of increasing love & beauty.

After all, my life purpose is to travel the world exploring and expressing my love of beauty and the beauty of love. It took 6 months of working with the book “What Matters Most” by Hyrum Smith to figure that out.

The centre of my painting is the journey of becoming whole – first as a spiritual being having a human experience.

It’s also about harmonizing  my sacred feminine and masculine. For many years, they were at war inside my head.

I’m not sure if I was born a stronger Right or Left brained child, but I certainly was very well trained in the Left Brain world. So much so that my Right, feminine, intuitive self shrunk with the years until a healer cautioned me to do something about it quick.

That’s when I got back into the arts, which led to strengthening my intuition …. and the rest is history.

The textured couple represent both that balance of the feminine and masculine within me as well as my identity-building within  the context of relationships – with family, friends, co-workers, and soul-mates.

I may be a highly sensitive introvert who enjoys a lot of solo time, but I also cherish my connections with like-minded souls.

I grew up in an insular military family. It was really only after my 10-year marriage and 2 more provinces that I discovered a sense of belonging and community. Before that, I had one or two close friends wherever I lived, but never had a sense of tribe. Saskatoon changed that.

Who we are within society and in relationship with others is a balancing act – one I chose to represent here through the yoga tree pose – grounded & connected in dynamic stillness and mutual support.

I’ve been a spiritual seeker from as far as I can remember. I spent many introspective hours alone in nature as a young child. I also remember reading booklets about Saints and the Children’s Bible in my pre-teens.

My grade 9 religious studies teacher, Lysette Brochu, was moved to give me a copy of Og Mandino’s The Greatest Miracle in the World. For decades after that, I mostly read personal and spiritual growth books.

Here, I chose to honour a few of the most significant books from my past.  I let go of books as soon as I read them, so I had to recreate them in Photoshop from scratch. Then, made a gel image transfer so that the books would be semi-transparent, letting the texture and colour of the gold background infuse the titles.

The knowledge and wisdom from these books run through my essence just as my ancestor’s blood run through my veins.

So does what I’ve learned about myself as a Scorpio (in western astrology) and a Fire Horse (in Chinese astrology). The latter are dreaded, I’ve read, by Chinese parents. But I quite like who I am.

Other tools that influenced my self-understanding & self-acceptance were the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and the one included in the book Now, Discover Your Strengths.

Emerging more fully into ourselves is a journey that spans many lifetimes, or so I believe.

The clockwise and counter-clockwise spiral vines on the background represent this constant journey of allowing Spirit to guide us inward and then back out again into the world through our various ways of being & doing.

Framing the painting are the two Towers of Truth & Knowledge standing in the etheric plane. These are where I imagine the Akashic Records  (Book of Life) to be stored. They’re like a super computer that can access all information for every individual who has ever lived upon the earth in the past, present & future – thoughts, words, deeds, intentions, etc.

Exploring these on my own and with trained practitioners has been a fun part of this road trip called life.

Emerging as my True Self with the help of this entire frame of reference has been a work in progress – a journey of self-discovery and identity-building that I’ve found important in allowing myself to be all I was meant to be. 

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This painting is a bit of who I am.  Who are you?  Please share in the comments below 1 thing you would keep the same from my painting and 2 elements that you would add. Books, symbols, etc.

Thanks – I look forward to reading that.