The second vehicle for discovery that allows for the soul’s growth on earth (the first being time) is place/space. In the energy realm, where we exist while not inhabiting bodies, we do not have physical places or space. We can intentionally experience the illusion of place, but since it does not actually exist, we recognize that it does not provide any barriers. Let’s peek at some way in which space/place can become a prevalent background for our souls’ development:
1. First, we have the opportunity to be location-curious, meaning that when we learn about places that differ from those in our frame of reference, our curiosity can trigger expansive ways to think, feel, or take action. Contrarily, we can also choose to largely ignore regions outside our comfort area, regardless of whether our comfort zone is two blocks wide or limited to our town or country of origin. Imagine the complex factors that lead us to choose to venture far, or remain near our place of birth. Life’s expansive opportunities are largely integrated with our willingness to venture to the unfamiliar.
2. In order to process “place,” our brains have internal GPS, so to speak. Our GPS allows us to navigate from one place to another and understand the concepts of up/down, east/west. This GPS provides interesting chances for us to make discoveries. Some people appear to have seemingly innate senses of direction, while others seem directionally illiterate. Each extreme, as well as where one falls on that spectrum, gives different chances for growth. Imagine how different a life is if you are always lost and can’t find your way versus you are the one who others lean on to get them from one place to another. Perhaps electronic navigation systems level the difference between the two extremes, but there’s still directional literacy even when navigating a mall or a college campus, etc.
3. A third way that space/place helps to provide a backdrop for growth is the effect different settings can have on us. A change of scene can change our outlook. A vacation spot can renew us. Being in the city versus being in the country can change our relationship with our beliefs and choices.
We can learn more about ourselves and our preferences, and choose to use or not use this information to our advantage. For example, if a person feels renewed and happy by the sea, but spends his whole life declaring why he can’t live by the sea, isn’t he choosing a belief that will create a boundary to his limitless ability to be happy? He may actually be holding onto this belief because he doesn’t feel worthy of living where he wants to live, thus “place” gives him a chance to express a depleted love of self. We grow by choosing or not choosing to honor our preferences in where we travel or live.
4. Place gives an endless amount of variety for us to learn about. It has the ability to ignite awe in us. How can animals adapt to the desert? How can a giant squid live ten thousand feet deep in the ocean? What’s it like to experience only one hour of daylight at certain places at specific times of the year? The variety in climate and topography has the ability to stimulate curiosity and zeal for the miracle that such a variety exists.
5. Place can ignite our sense of innovation. The advent of every travel / recreational vehicle was stimulated by the idea that we can navigate beyond where we’ve been or faster than we’ve gone. Think about the richness that has originated by the desire to conquer or embrace space – bicycles, rowboats, planes, rockets, RVs, race cars, trucks, roller coasters, motorcycles, sleds, covered wagons, trains, trolleys, cargo ships, ATVs, monorail, catamarans, and so on. Collectively, advances in transportation or navigation provide the opportunity to mirror the growth of the vibrational energy of humanity.
6. Place also give humans an opportunity to choose their dwellings as a reflection of their souls’ growth. One can live nomadically with portable tents, or live in a 20,000 square foot mansion. They can live in a cave, a cardboard box, or on a houseboat. They can live in a hut on a private island or in a tenement house. They can live in a mobile home or a tiny house. Each dwelling is by choice even if the inhabitant believes it to be by necessity.
7. Place gives us the chance to witness the difference in people, culture, and lifestyle from region to region. This observation of difference can lead to us discovering the sameness in all as proof of our interconnectedness, or can be interpreted as proof that we are not at all connected.
8. As a further opportunity to innovate, place/space gives humanity a canvas on which to create habitable and / or desirable spaces. Necessity and/or desire have stimulated indoor heating, steel framing, and housing that can withstand deserts and Arctic temperatures. In Bermuda, for example, no ground water exists, so a roofing system was designed, and is used countrywide, to collect rain water. The Taipei 101, once the world's tallest building, sits near a fault line, but is stabilized by an 18-foot ball of steel suspended by cables.
9. Space allows for an infinite amount of design possibilities as well. Throughout history, people have created every imaginable design in architecture and decorating, from a cliff home to a cottage, from Southwestern motifs to urban loft design. Creating space, or ignoring the aesthetics of one’s home allows for the expression of one’s selected identity at any given moment.
10. The overarching value that space / place gives us on earth is to perceive variety and, subsequently, to choose how large or how narrowly we want to live, conquer, explore, investigate, research, or play.
You have the ability to use this tool, space and place, as your ally by blasting through any limiting beliefs you hold that prevent you from soaring! Go where you want, play where you love, build what feels just right for you, and let yourself explore whatever places excite you.
SHINE ON!