If it’s true that we create our reality with our projector or lens, how do we change that lens? How do we shift our awareness away from trying to adjust the conditions of the world and begin the inner-journey that can bring true and lasting joy? This is exactly what I want to explore with you. I want to examine what it means to consciously create a life that is grounded in love and connection regardless of your outer circumstances. I invite you to imagine such a perfect creation, unmarred by memories and fears, untouched by perceived difficulties. But first, I will guide you in some deeper inner work that will allow you to be more profoundly open to finding the vision that is genuinely yours, the life of your dreams.
Perhaps you’ve heard: “Your thoughts create your reality” or “If you change your thinking, you can change your life.” Maybe you’ve experienced this as a mantra of encouragement, or as a way to practice self-contemplation. Maybe you’ve utilized it as a tool for getting more—more stuff, more respect, more love, or more control over your outer circumstances. And maybe it’s left you desiring more. Whether you call it the Law of Attraction, affirmations, or even positive thinking, this insight can leave unanswered questions, like what happens if your outer circumstances do not seem to respond to changes in your thoughts—can you still be grounded in love and connection? What if you have succeeded in creating the life of your dreams externally but still feel an inner need for something more, something deeper?
Can you create a life that is still more meaningful and purposeful? The short answer is yes. You have the power within you. I recognize that you may have reason to be skeptical. The difficulties of your life might seem destined to mar your creation, no matter what you do. Or, having been on a conscious path for a while, you may have concluded that “This is all there is.” But I promise you that even amidst the most dire circumstances, like life-threatening illness, addiction, divorce, or loss, you can consciously create the life of your dreams. And if you’ve been searching for years, or even decades, you can still uncover more of what seems to be blocking you and more fully embody your deepest vision. This is the powerful and life-changing process that I call Conscious Creation.
I’ve certainly experienced this life-changing process in my own life’s journey, and countless times, and I’ve also seen it transform other people’s lives and deepen their ability to create the life of their dreams. To assist you in understanding this process and make it comprehensible, I’ve organized it into five steps, or movements and given it the acronym MOVIE: (1) Making Peace with the Past, (2) Overcoming Core False Beliefs, (3) Visioning, (4) Intention Setting, and (5) Embodying the Vision. These steps will assist you in creating a new MOVIE for your life.
My life’s journey has led me through some precipitous mountains and valleys. It wasn’t until I was almost forty that I experienced the shift that allowed me to dive deeper into the process of consciously creating my life. I had been on an intentional spiritual path for nearly two decades, studying metaphysical principles and participating in spiritual communities, and now I was even being drawn toward spiritual leadership. But part of me resisted what I was learning, mostly because I had not done all the deeper work that this book calls us to undertake.
Externally, I was focusing on “looking good,” on appearances. Internally, I was ignoring the concealed roots of my outward focus. And so when I had the calling to become a spiritual teacher, the external structure I had built collapsed. Partially unknown to me was a deeply held internal belief that spurred me to acquire more externally: the belief that I was unworthy, and that I could pass as worthy only if I did (and had) all the “right” things. This trauma-borne point of view was the foundation upon which I was creating my life.
I was even applying spiritual principles to support this foundational conviction. Specifically, I was counting on the power of my thoughts to manifest “the life of my dreams.” I used affirmations—utilizing the then-popular saying, “Thoughts held in mind produce after their kind,” which is another way of saying, “Our thoughts create our reality.” Seduced by this idea, I imagined that if I just used affirmations, or positive thoughts, in the correct way, I could create more external success for myself. This is sensible in itself. However, what I didn’t know was that my subconscious strategy was to “become spiritually perfect” so that I could look acceptable externally; I believed deep down that if I could pass as a successful person, spiritually and otherwise, then the pain of my core belief in my own unworthiness would be relieved. Subconsciously, I was trying to think my way into being worthy, or at least to seeming worthy.
It worked for awhile, as I enjoyed my newfound success. I owned a successful business. I had a nice home in San Francisco, filled with designer furniture and original artwork. I had the latest Lexus; I went to the best gym to attain my perfect body. I had a beautiful boyfriend. But my unattended core belief that I was unworthy would eventually bring the whole edifice of my outer life tumbling down. I hadn’t truly examined my foundational beliefs, and so the house that emerged from them was precarious. The more my outer success grew, the more I depended on it, and the more I believed I needed to acquire in order to be worthy or acceptable. This led me to feel, less successful, emptier, and more out of touch with my essential nature.
Since that time, I’ve been drawn into the healing and transformative process that I now call Conscious Creation. Before I could take the first step of creation, however, I needed to experience a collapse in my external structures (and internal structures for that matter), and the life I had built came crashing down—not once, but twice. That painful process finally revealed the false foundation I had unconsciously built my life upon. And it also led to ultimate freedom.
Over the years that followed I was able to unlearn the core belief about my own unworthiness, among others, and this allowed me to commence in laying a new foundation. Once I released the belief that I needed my outer life to look a certain way, I was able to more deeply and authentically commit to my spiritual practice. In turn, deepening rather than resisting my spiritual practice opened me more fully to the truth of who and what I am, as whole and perfect and one with source.
This opened me up to more love, more connection, more joy, and more happiness than I had ever known. And in turn, the deeper work of spiritual practice and authenticity in community opened me to receive a new and truer vision of my life. It’s not the outer-driven life of success that I dreamt of in my younger days. It’s a way of being, of flowing-with rather than resisting. It’s Conscious Creation. And paradoxically, once I dedicated my life to this practice, the outer circumstances of my existence began to fall into place, but this time, developed on a solid foundation. This part of my life story is but a glimpse of the Conscious Creation process, a process I’ve seen unfold not only in my own life, but in the lives of many other people as well. I’ve seen it transform lives and deepen awareness both in my work as a spiritual teacher and among my fellow spiritual explorers.
Again, the 5 steps to Conscious Creation are (1) Making Peace with the Past, (2) Overcoming Core False Beliefs, (3) Visioning, (4) Intention Setting, and (5) Embodying the Vision.
To learn more about my Conscious Creation process, please visit:
www.tjwoodward.com/consciouscreation
