We’re All Just Walking Each Other Home
As I’ve been reflecting on this past year, the theme that has emerged for me (and the quote that has been on repeat in my head for a couple of months now) is, as the 20th-century American spiritual teacher Ram Dass said, “We’re all just walking each other home.”
I am an introvert who has been somewhat of a hermit for much of the last decade, but I do recognize that no individual is an island and that relationships of every kind are needed for personal growth and soul evolution. As humans, we simply couldn’t exist without other humans.
We’re all on our own unique journeys with different chapters, highlights and challenges, and depending on where we’re at, we require a balance of isolation and being out in the world as we move through them. And as individuals, we are hard-wired with varying needs for interaction, so there is no right or wrong amount.
But it’s important to acknowledge and appreciate that engaging in all types of relationships on a variety of levels — whether for a few moments, several months, or the span of a lifetime — has a profound purpose: You get to see yourself through another’s eyes; something in them brings out certain parts of you; your interaction with them triggers or activates something that needs to be healed or expressed in one or both of you; it’s an opportunity to practice giving and receiving love. And you are co-creating experiences and memories that weave together to make up this thing called your LIFE.
All of which brings you back home to yourself, and with deeper awareness, ultimately to the part of you that is connected to the animating force that is greater than yourself, whether you want to call it Nature, Source, God, Higher Power, the Universe, etc.
As I re-emerged more and more from my cocoon, 2023 brought that lesson home (no pun intended) more than ever, understanding how we truly need and can learn from and enjoy each other. It is so clear to me now how we all have gifts to give each other that might not always look like a “gift” (or what you thought was the gift was actually something else, or the thing that seemed negative turns out to be the gift).
Or one day you might discover that the gift — for instance, like laughing a lot when together — is more valuable than you ever realized. And think about it: the more expansive you allow your network of humans to be, the more lessons and gifts you can receive.
Relationships of any kind, but especially our closest ones, are our best teachers — they’re the foil who presses against you the most; they test and/or exercise different aspects of your personality that, with intention, time and practice, can elevate and evolve you into your best version. I’m not saying this is always fun or easy! As Ram Dass also said, “If you think you’re enlightened, go spend a week with your family.”
Friend, partner, client, child, parent, date, dentist, boss, stranger … we are all crossing paths this lifetime for a reason. We are all supporting and guiding each other whether we are conscious of it or not.
The other reason this theme has been on my mind lately is the reality that we or our loved ones can be here one day, and gone the next. I know three people who lost someone close to them recently, suddenly and without warning. You never know when your last breath will be, when that last interaction will happen. It’s so easy to forget, but we must treasure and live each moment as if it could be our last, and make the most of our time together while we have it.
So as you reflect on 2023 and think about the year ahead, ask yourself: How is every interaction helping to walk me home, to my most essential self and my connection to the source of all that is?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Speaking of spending time together and walking each other home — thank YOU for being a part of my walk home. Having this outlet to share my thoughts and observations is a relationship with you, the reader. It has helped me evolve tremendously, and I have treasured it for the 14 (!) years I’ve been publishing these essays.
It’s also time for my annual PGG Year in Review! Click here to read and reflect on my 2023 missives. If they’ve given you some solace, evoked an aha or two, or inspired you to take positive action in any way and you would like to send a gift/tip/donation, you can do so via PayPal here or Venmo @clearlykristina and are accepted with a grateful heart. ❤️
Speaking of all types of relationships, you can hear about my relationship with food and my family on the Dish With Dina podcast released earlier this year, which turned out to be her №1 listened-to episode on Spotify!! You can see my IG post about it here, listen on Spotify here, listen on Apple here, or on YouTube here.
Want to create a better relationship with your work and life in 2024? Consider working with me as a coach by visiting my website here, and check out my rockin’ IG promo reel here. USE COUPON CODE NEWYEAR10 for 10% off now through January 15.
Looking for a great tool to set you up with a positive routine in 2024? Check out my book Say It To Make It: Affirmations to Empower Your Heart, Mind, Spirit and Soul. Grab a copy and add some color and positive energy to start your New Year off right!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Kristina Leonardi is a nationally recognized career and life coach, speaker and author who for over 16 years has empowered individuals to make lasting professional and personal changes aligned with their true passions and talents while fulfilling their role in the world at large. With a holistic and personal growth-oriented approach, she has helped hundreds of men and women over the past decade improve their job performance, enter or re-enter the job force, change careers, better manage their time and stress, and live happier, more meaningful, balanced lives. Her specialty is working with people who feel stuck or are in transition and can help you clarify exactly what you want to do, identify blocks, issues, and patterns in your way, and offer proven ideas, resources, and action steps to get you there.
CLICK HERE FOR KRISTINA’S LINKTREE
Get essays like this delivered to your mailbox as my PGG newsletter
Click here for info about Kristina’s coaching and speaking services
Follow on Facebook and Instagram and Twitter for up to date posts, helpful articles and inspirational thoughts. Slowly building my YouTube channel so you check that out and subscribe too!
Check out my books Personal Growth Gab:Personal Growth Gab (PGG) Volume One: Thought-provoking, inspirational and entertaining essays to keep you connected to yourself and make sense of this journey called Life and Say It To Make It: Affirmations to Empower the Heart, Mind, Spirit and Soul both available on Amazon.
If you like what I write, you’ll love what I have to say in person!
Click here for info about my coaching and speaking services
Click here for some testimonials from past clients
Click here for a video that explains some ways in which I can help you
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Read over 100-star “Yelp” style reviews here
Read more about me and my work in these past PGG’s:
15 Candles |All Roads, Same Place | And Now, A Word from Our Sponsor | Strong Medicine | 10,000 Hours | A Decade of Doing What I Do | Express Yourself
