Every now and then a new term is coined during a reading. Most recently, “high work”.

High Work is the type of inner work you’re called to do, that is a little extra hard or tricky. It’s the kind you don’t have to do. Your life would continue on, mostly okay if you didn’t do it. So you have less inclination to respond to this kind of work. It’s mostly pushed to the side.

It comes back to the foreground when you’ve done the other more “urgent” work, and there is opportunity for “high work”. Interestingly, most people would rather dive into lower work to avoid high work.

Because HW compels you to break new ground. To take your thoughts to new places. To catch yourself as you go down familiar thought-ways and redirect your attention.

It takes more energy to do HW. You can’t be as lazy with your thoughts and you can’t feel sorry for yourself in this kind of work. It presents itself when your spirit knows you are currently Able to do this kind of work.

Today I was called upon to do some HW of my own. I could feel that it was coming, but the last month or so I was too busy in my low-work to get there.

Everyone’s work is different of course, and all work is created to clear paths to freedom. So that life can feel like a choice and not a chore. Like a creative adventure rather than penance.

My current high work gives the following instructions:

When my thoughts include another person, to notice whether my energy dips or elevates, and if it dips, to immediately take that thought and shift it so that it elevates. I can feel the tension as I attempt this. The practiced habit of moving forward with the suggestion of a thought tugs at me to follow. And in the moment that I hit pause and redirect, I can feel a visceral “Whoop!”. Like going over a big bump while driving and feeling the tummy flop as you come back down the other side.

As soon as I notice a thought enter about a person, and a subsequent energy dip, I imagine that person laughing or smiling, or the sun shining on their face. That’s my go-to image that helps me redirect. Or I’ll think about them standing outside smiling, on a sunny day. And Whoop! suddenly I feel upliftment in my heart about them and about myself.

It’s high work because it takes a lot of interference with practiced thought-ways. It’s bringing a lot of awareness to what you’re thinking and how you’re feeling. And it’s seemingly less appealing than moving forward with practiced thoughts and feeling patterns. There is comfort and predictability in doing what we know. So why take that comfort away and do something new?

Sometimes it’s not a good time for high work. There might not be enough energy flowing in your system to make make such constant interruptions. Sometimes another type of work is more beneficial.

When I attempt HW at the “wrong” time, I can’t keep it up. It doesn’t feel beneficial. In fact, it feels like it’s making things worst for me. That’s why listening to yourself is so important.

I always feel-out how easy or difficult it is to move energy at a particular time. How easy is it to shift my thoughts? If anything ever feels too strenuous or taxing, I back off. Then it’s not time. That’s not the way. I look for an easier path. I ask questions like, “What feels like Love right now?” or “Where is Love right now?” There is a time for soothing, a time for smaller work, and a time to do work that propels you upward. All are valuable.

High work doesn’t compel you as much as other types of work. It invites you. It gives you an opportunity for something better, but never tries to convince you to come. It says, “here is this space. you’ll like it here. it’ll feel better. but I won’t drag you here, you have to walk yourself.” High work is Self-compelled and Self-propelled. You have to choose to say yes and choose to follow.

To me, the highest paths are the ones that light up and invite you, but never force you. It’s the ones you follow for no reason. The ones that feel good to you, but you can’t always articulate why.

Other paths Compel you. They are an answer to physical needs or wants like money, success, companionship, or status. They “make sense” in terms of what other people think and what society deems right or normal. They make sense to your logical, intellectual parts.

Higher paths don’t seem to make logical sense to those parts of you, or to anyone watching you from the outside. But they speak to your heart. There is a warmth to them, a sense of magic or right-ness deep within you-even though you can’t figure out why. They guarantee nothing, they promise you nothing. And so following is a choice, a feeling that part of you is coming home on this path. There is only Resonance with your spirit.

There will be many beautiful things gained on this path and by doing High Work, but the focus is never on attainment, only the path. And if focus shifts to attainment and not the path, you’ll stumble back into some old thought-ways and life will reflect to you old patterns and experiences.

And so when the time is right, another opportunity or invitation will come to you to follow the higher path. No guarantees, no promises, only a feeling of “yes”, “rightness”, and resonance with Being.

Over and over this happens, soaring and then sinking. Following and diverging. But it’s all part of a beautiful design. Always soar when you are Able, always lean towards the light. Because distraction is inevitable. The enticement of physical things is inevitable. The physical world will give you endless Reasons to be immersed in it. Lend your thoughts elsewhere when you’re able – – if you choose to be an active participant in the Balance of your life.

Fear has two sides. The inner world of the person experiencing the fear, and the outside influences appearing “scary”. We often put these two sides together and it becomes known as one thing – fear.

In doing this, we limit our ability to go further through misunderstanding. Think of something that scares you. Try to discern whether it is objectively scary “out there” or is it something inside you that makes it feel scary?

It would be safe to argue that all things that are scary “out there”, originate from a fear “in here”, but we have to push that to the side for now.

For example, if a rabid beast approaches you, one could say that the situation is objectively scary. While getting promoted at work and wanting to run away relates to a fear “in here”.

To approach life with more boldness in your stance and a willingness to say yes although you feel afraid, has to do with working on the “in here” fear response.

There’s the type of fear that makes you want to walk through it even though it’s uncomfortable and the other kind that’s more like, “No for real, you need to RUN.”

Becoming more masterful at which one is which takes getting to know yourself, deeply. Getting adept at the nuances of feeling and a more refined message of what they’re telling you.

Of course there are times I don’t care which fear it is, I’d rather hide. I’d rather not play right now and keep my head down and just exist on autopilot for awhile. So you always want to have two approaches to yourself and your life, one that says “Ok, this is not the time.” and another corresponding response that says, “But I’m keeping my eye on when I DO feel more available and I’m willing to flow with it.”

When I prepare to do a reading I can either feel that, “no way I’m outta here!” or I can feel complete readiness. This never has anything to do with who I’m reading or what the situation is. It has everything to do with my own readiness. My “in here”. As long as in here is stable and steady, I can do just about anything. But if I can feel a shakiness inside, then I know I can’t move forward.

This is why sometimes meditation or inner quietness seems like the most torturous idea. If things are very shaky on the inside, when you quiet the outside and tune in – it can seem like a nightmare. So if you’ve been having a terrible time and emotions are high, meditation is not a good idea. More calming activities can be better. Less Quiet and more Soothing is what you aim for. [Soothing can also include a physical activity that channels your thoughts and gives you temporary piece – like a workout or dancing or cooking. It doesn’t have to be taking baths or listening to Enya.]

Soothing yourself into a place where meditation seems manageable is the key. This can take minutes to months and in some cases years depending on the person.

Every now and then I come across someone that is afraid of getting a reading. To me it doesn’t make sense because I’m only speaking what is already within you. And then I think, people must be afraid of themselves in some way. That there might be a mysterious *something* in there that’s terrible. “Best not to look at it.” And in almost ALL cases, the mysterious something is incredibly beautiful. It’s the Love they’ve denied themselves. It’s their own light warming their spirit.

And then I think, is the mysterious terrible thing…love? Is it self-worth? Is it light? Is it scary to approach those things when we’ve practiced *something else* for so long? Is it because we started to believe that the hardships we experienced were evidence of our unworthiness and now we don’t want to even look in the direction of inner love?

I’d like to speak on behalf of You and tell you that you never did anything wrong. And that the hard things in life had nothing to do with how loved you are. You remained always, then and now, Worthy, Perfect, and Wholly loved just as you are.

Your whole being is like a ship riding the ocean of “life”. You’re the eyes peering out over the waters. And your ship never leaves you. No matter how rocky the waves. It’s just there saying, I got you. It says, we’re strong, we’re steady, we’re loved. We’re in this together. You could ignore those messages of love for years and they wouldn’t change. Your “ship” never forgets you or gives up on you. It’s just a steady, “I got you.”

So when you can distinguish outside fear from “in here” fear, you can look inside and listen. “What am I afraid of?” Get into a place where you feel as happy as you possibly can and look again. Can my inner strength and worthiness rise above this fear? Can I hold steady? Can I feel the part of me that doesn’t know fear? What is the Best part of me saying?

Sometimes people ask whether I get afraid doing readings. What about other people’s energy affecting yours? What about all the unknowns when you’re in that open, “vulnerable” state?

I’ve learned that there is only one thing that is a variable. My own steadiness. Am I holding steady and confident? Am I moving with Flow or am I allowing myself to be affected by other people’s perceptions? Am I allowing my own fears to infiltrate the reading? I have to be ready before and I have to stay steady after as well. It’s all me. The scariest things are my own, not anyone else’s.

I don’t fear the unseen worlds because I know who I am as I step into them.

In times when I don’t know myself, when I haven’t wanted to be with Me, when I don’t feel like talking about love or light, I don’t venture anywhere else.

When I’ve helped others learn to channel, this is the main thing to learn. To know yourself. To know every corner of the inner you and where you feel Best. Know your darkest and lightest parts and let them be. And when you’ve closed your eyes to Who You Are, that’s not the time to channel or explore.

My biggest wish or desire for myself in this world was to help people feel at home within themselves. Because I’ve been to the darkest edges and the highest highs and realized there is nothing Bad within us. And I’d like to say to everyone I meet, “Come on in! The water’s nice!” The waters of the Whole You. Get to know yourself. Find the part of you that holds a light that doesn’t flicker and never goes out.