Turning micro-epiphanies into miracles
By Michelle Jenck
I really don’t like the word “transformation.” It has become a buzzword like so many others that once held a positive meaning but now seems overused and inauthentic. Despite this, nearly everything I believe in and write about circles back to that very theme.
If we don’t experience transformation, we don’t grow. For some people it happens as a spiritual awakening, like being born again. For others it is enlightenment, a mystical experience that’s hard to explain, and yet leaves you completely and irrevocably changed. Whether sudden or gradual, revelations can come through many channels, such as a 12-step program, professional counseling, or in everyday situations like a chat with a friend.
I’ve experienced all types of transformation in my life. In fact, I’ve come to believe that once we have that initial a-ha moment, it opens a floodgate. Almost daily I have some micro-epiphany that opens my eyes in ways that change how I see and experience life.
Some of my soul shift moments are especially memorable. Going to Al-Anon at the age of 14, I was struck by the lightning bolt of awareness that, regardless of my circumstances, no one else but me is responsible for my own happiness. At age 31, shortly after receiving a belated Confirmation in the Catholic church, I began to realize that when I stopped trying to control situations, they seemed to work out on their own. I had to get kids to two different places at the same time and then the phone would ring with someone offering to give one a ride. As these seeming coincidences start to stack up, one becomes more trusting that things will work out just as they are supposed to without all the worry and effort.
Regardless of how we come by these experiences, there is one common element. Every transformative experience, big or small, begins with awareness. It feels like walking into a room you have entered your whole life, except someone has suddenly turned on the lights. You begin seeing things that were always there but were somehow invisible before.
It’s kind of like buying a car and then you start seeing it everywhere you go. The amazing thing is that once you have this experience one time, you start to wonder how much else you have been missing. That realization opens the door to more transformative awakenings.
They say you can go through life as though nothing is a miracle or as though everything is. I’ve come to believe that, once you have that first a-ha moment, everything becomes a miracle.
This is the gift of not knowing. It brings a kind of humility that reminds us how much we still cannot see. We tend to go through our lives assuming we possess all the facts. When we have the light switch moment, we are forced to recognize that we often don’t know what we don’t know. And that is usually what is getting in our way.
This newfound reality exists in every aspect of our lives. Within every relationship, work situation, life struggle or endeavor, there is something we aren’t seeing. And this affects the quality of our relationships and our ability to reach our goals.
So, how do we turn on the lights?
For me it has been through spirituality – both western and eastern – but that may not be for everyone. However we come by it, there seems to be two fundamental keys – a willingness to accept that there may be something larger than ourselves, beyond what we can immediately see or even fully comprehend. And, acknowledging that we are not in control.
What possibilities might open if you allowed more room for mystery and trusted that there are deeper insights just waiting to be illuminated?
Thank you for your interest. Follow more of my work on Substack at The Tao te Mitchy – Subscribe here for more; PQ Initiative, and Divergent Ideas.
Photo by ameenfahmy on Unsplash
