Every morning, if we are lucky, the sun will rise. We are but one in seven and a half billion people who live that shared experience. This, and death are the only two things that we, as humans, share entirely and in certainty.
For 200,000 years, humans who looked most like us have been on earth. The formal science of psychology? Approximately, 150 years. Very Well Mind stated that, “… the study of psychology has a very long past but a very short history.”
One sub-field says ‘seek meaning’, while another says to find self-actualization and another still says, what are our peak experiences. There are times when these sub-fields collide. Do we study happiness or not? Why or why not? Does our belief system count? In my opinion, how can it not?
Who are we to believe?
We can count on the sun to rise
Today, we have approximately, 4200 religions actively participating in a belief system. What we believe to be true, is true for each human being. How we go about understanding our species, that is also diverse.
Have you tried having a conversation with someone who doesn’t believe what you believe lately?
Who is to say that one is right and the others are all wrong? We can’t. To believe in something is part of the human experience. To believe that there is nothing to believe is active believing and that is something too.
The sun rises in the east, but for each of us, east is somewhere else.
I’m using this as a metaphor of course. One of the most liberating sun rises of our lives is the one that starts the new chapter in living our own best, authentic lives.
When we truly free ourselves from the opinions of others so that we can live our lives to our truest nature, that is the day we realize that the integration of all other parts of ourselves are here to shape us into who and what we are supposed to be.
The whole point of our field is to offer our collective knowledge to the public so they can decide for themselves. We aren’t here to push our agenda, but instead, to hold the light of knowledge so they can see their own path, living their best lives. On their own.
The Light Shines on
On a perfect day, we are free to be exactly who we wish, within, of course, the parameters of doing no harm to others. I myself have been in the psychology business for twenty five years.
When I stepped outside the field to discover a more ancient healing practice, it cultivated a more profound understanding of psychology as a healing tool.
This is our light life. To illuminate the world with our own unique and special gift that we create based on our lived experience and our worldview together. We are a sum of our whole, sharing space on a single planet with a rich history of seven billion others.
Each, a unique sunrise that only we can see. That to me, is the miracle of our mind-body-spirit experience.
KH
Author: Karen Henry has a masters degree in community psychology and an advanced graduate certificate in mental health counseling. She is the author of several books on healing. She’s a private practitioner and researcher in the United States. Today marks her new journey living on the fringe of the field in a more creative, highly personalized light life.