Be, Tree and Believe

April is here, and I can feel the subtle shift that comes with the beginning of this fiery Aries season.

Things feel alive and inspired.

That feeling is supported by springtime on the island, which manifests itself through earlier sunrises, bright shifts in the light, song birds aplenty, and a gradual opening of springtime blooms. My beloved rainbow shower trees will start to flower soon, accentuating the landscape with punches of sunshine yellow, cherry red, and dreamy pink.

It is in the nature of a tree to be no more than or no less than the being they are created to be.

After all, the rainbow shower tree doesn’t doubt its capacity or purpose to bloom, shed, regenerate, then bloom again when its time; it just does what it was created to do.

I love that bit of tree wisdom. It ties in beautifully with the topic of self-belief, which I chose for April’s issue of Your Heart Magic, because trees are beautiful teachers of what it means to embody confidence.

Self-belief is a concept deeply close to my heart, and cultivating my relationship with self-belief has been a huge part of my journey.

Turns out, one doesn’t uproot the life they once had, transplant to an island, and start over again at midlife, without having to sit with, acquaint themselves, and stare down all their doubts, fears and insecurities. Pretty much everything that is the complete opposite of self-belief.

I have definitely found that in order to be the fullest version of ourselves, we have to weed out a lot of junk that wants to hold us back, limit us, and keep us small. This world jam packs us full of negative messages and criticisms, and it’s up to us to unpack all those messages and fill ourselves with the beliefs that will nourish our souls.

The last couple years have been all about learning to root out my doubts, so I can tend to my soul by owning my vision of self and believing in my own capabilities.  In my personal de-junking process, I’ve learned a lot about fierce self-belief and what that really means.

So, in the spirit of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing,” (which is usually what starts playing in my 80’s child head when I start writing about self-belief), here’s three things I think we need to be believing in, in order to deepen our sense of self-belief:  

1.  Believing in our ability to create and manifest our dreams.

When it comes to believing in ourselves, we have to learn to be our biggest cheerleaders and know that we are these beautiful divine human beings, who are incredibly capable of creating endless possibilities!

If we don’t dream it, we can’t achieve it. If we don’t believe it, we can’t achieve it. We have to keep finding ways to believe in our dreams and believe in our ability to actualize those dreams.  

2. Believing in our right to live and be our most soulful expression of self.

In order for us to reach for our dreams, we have to make sure we are standing on solid ground. And that solid ground begins with believing we have the right to embody our fullest expression of self.

After all, if we don’t believe we have the right to be our REAL self, how can we begin to find the courage to live our life authentically and joyfully?

3. Believing in our unique vision of self, which is given to us so we can actualize and embody our fullest self.

Each of us is a divine piece of art, soulfully creating our lives as we go. If something calls to us, if we have a dream, a hope, a wish, a desire- it is because it’s part of who we are meant to be.

Every single shade of our self is part of the greater collection of what makes us unique. All of it is valid and worthy, and when we start to see all of ourselves and valid and worthy, a sense of self-respect, self-love, and self-belief organically flows from there.

Just like the trees, we have to learn how to stand tall in the knowledge that is our self and be confident in who that self is. Trees don’t care about their bumps, rings, knots, or the look of their branches: they just grow into their fullest version of being, wherever they are planted. So too, must we keep doing the work of the self so we can plant firmly into our self-knowledge and grow into our fullest, authentic being.

For me, that is still a work in progress and something I continue to figure out on this island.

It’s a day by day, step by step process of gradual reinvention, creation, and evolution. I shed one life to grow into another, and every day I feel a little closer to the person I’m supposed to become and a little farther away from my old blooms of self.

 And hopefully soon, just like the rainbow shower tree, I too will blossom.

Just in time for spring.