Hi there,
I’ve been thinking a lot about changes and new beginnings. How they happen, why they happen and what they do for us.
It happens in life that we feel stuck and stagnated. It may feel as if we are delaying or postponing something, – sometimes ourselves. It’s a draining process, really. Especially if it reaches the point where we feel lost or see no way out. We get depressed and life feels meaningless. We distract ourselves, roam around, get agitated and find it hard to concentrate. We find ourselves pretending to listen to our loved ones but in reality we neither truly hear nor see them. We’re not present. Our minds are somewhere else. The reception between our hearts and heads has broken. We find no connection between our agony and the way we live.
Transition, oil on canvas (2018) instagram @sifgunnsteins_art
There’s a lot of power in saying no
And then boom! Something happens in our lives and our routine gets disrupted. This may be a difficult life experience that we resist. – A lover leaves us, we lose our job or break a leg. What’s better though, is when we ourselves initiate the change so that it’s not forced upon us. This happens when we have been aligned with and listened to our InnSæi and realised that it is time for a change. The growing disconnect within ourselves has not passed unnoticed and we act on it. There’s a lot of power in saying no to what’s not working for us. But it also takes courage.
Maria Popova puts it beautifully in her end of the year 2023 newsletter of The Marginalian: “There are moments in life when we are reminded that we are unfished, that the story we have been telling ourselves about who we are and where our life leads is yet unwritten.”
These moments may feel random and as if they are coming from nowhere, but they’re not. They are desires and beliefs that have been brewing inside us for a while, often a very long time, and when we have opened up to a new beginning, our inner desires and beliefs sense that their time has come to emerge to the surface, from the depths of the sea within us.
Pledge your support
Change opens pathways to possibilities
Whether the change or new beginning feels of our own doing or not, change opens pathways to possibilities that we would not otherwise be exposed to. Paying attention to these possibilities is the key to growing through them. Closing our eyes to them; denying change from happening, won’t help. Discomfort and pain persist when we resist. There’s wisdom in accepting that life is in constant motion, it doesn’t go backwards.
When we grow, we allow the world ‘to come to us’. New beginnings carry with them tipping points and profound openings that can deeply affect how we show up in life. Acting wisely can sound simple and yet terribly complex at the same time. It is like sailing out on an open sea where there is no land in sight and the only compass we can truly rely on, is within us. Rule number one is to keep your head up, so that you don’t drown. Rule number two is to decide which direction to go in. Now that’s a harder one.
The psychoanalyst Allen Wheelis is quoted to have said: “We create ourselves. The sequence is suffering, insight, will, action, change.
Tune into your soul’s frequency
Being aligned with InnSæi means we are in tune with our soul’s frequency and we pay attention to how we experience our lives. InnSæi helps us notice the hints signalling it is time for a change. When we know and love ourselves we honour our own feelings and experiences, instead of discarding them. Love gives us courage to act, to take the necessary steps or leaps of faith. We can disrupt stagnation that has stifled our wings, energy and creativity. The reward is a renewed spirit, a rebirth that helps us set sail on the open sea.
I write this as I stand at the cusp of yet another life’s transitions and a new beginning. The first such major experience I had was in my late twenties. It hit me unexpectedly, was deeply painful, I resisted it, then got exhausted, kind of collapsed, and ended up giving into the flow of life. It was a life-changing experience that I write about in my book InnSæi: Heal, revive and reset with the Icelandic art of intuition (Lagom, Bonnier books UK, March 2024).
Stay aligned with your InnSæi
This time around the new beginning is very different because I’ve initiated the change myself and enjoy taking responsibility for it. Being aligned with my InnSæi has helped immensely, both in my personal and professional life. I know what’s right for me at this point. But it didn’t happen over-night, it’s been brewing for quite some time. I left a successful job in Iceland, moved countries, am selling or giving away most of my material belongings, including my home for over twenty years. I am following love and committing myself to bringing InnSæi out into the world. It’s incredibly exciting, – and a bit scary at the same time.
We all have this sparkle within us, there is something we’ve thought about for a long time that we want to do in our lives. You want to create art, write, change jobs, leave your spouse, travel, knit, run 5k, move to the countryside, ask someone out, make new friends or speak the truth about something that’s been taking up too much space in your head. Whatever it is, don’t postpone it if you don’t have to. This is your life. The time is always ripe to do the right thing, as Nelson Mandela said.
Commit to living your life in a way that nourishes you. Stay aligned with your InnSæi. And in order to do that, pay attention to what you pay attention to, document it, write it in your journal. Witness yourself unfold.
As you close one door (which can even be an old habit or a thought pattern) and open another, – with an open heart-, notice how the world opens up to you.
What you are in fact noticing, is the possible in you.
With love,
Hrund
I hope you enjoyed reading. Would you like to suggest a question I answer about InnSæi in my newsletter? Or do you have keynote or business inquiries/interview requests? Send me a line on hrund.gunnsteinsdottir@gmail.com. I look forward to hearing from you.
