Michael Channeled by Shepherd Hoodwin
April 28, 2015, Part II
Bearsville, NY
Transcribed by Susan Harris
You are part of the eternal creator. You might say that the physical plane is a school for young artists. [This channeling was at the
Bearsville School for Young Artists.] You are learning how to create your reality, and it is your curiosity that impels you. You wonder what would happen if …. Some souls do crazy, destructive things because they are curious and don’t yet know better. However, it’s all good in a sense because it creates growth for everyone else, especially those who are still of a mind to grow through pain.
Every choice you make is a creative choice.
You are creating something every moment. However, we would say that the Tao has a special place in its heart for those who create through the arts because this is one area where people are more conscious that they are creating. But you create your home, you create your appearance, you choose the clothes you wear, and perhaps most important of all, you choose the words you speak and how you say them. You even you choose your thoughts. You may not yet be aware of how deep your choice-making
goes, and that’s all right. But awakening is awakening to how vast your choice-making is, how great your creativity is.
The life you have created thus far is already a beautiful work of art. It is a work in progress, of course; it is not perfect, but if you can step back from your life and see how beautiful it already is, you will be that much more proficient a creator.
You
are only happy when you are being creative, in the sense of making expansive choices, but that doesn’t mean that you always have to be writing a song, painting a painting, or dancing a dance. If you are continually aware of yourself as a creator, you will be happy. You will feel the truth that you are in control in your life and always have been. You may not have been very skillful at creating your life — that is what you are here to learn. Regardless, you did a great job so far — you created
it! — and you will only get better at it as you become conscious that you are its creator and discover what you truly wish to create on the canvas on your life.
Listening to your essence, your eternal nature, you unify it with your outer personality, the newest layer of self. Your eternal nature is one with the eternal nature of everything else. It is only on the surface that there can be conflict. Some souls are very curious
about conflict — that is where their growth is. But you are probably most curious about unity, about a way of being that has not been seen in human form before. If so, you are a pioneer on this path, but more and more people are joining you.
When your life force flows without obstruction in all the ways open to it, that is happiness. You cannot control other people’s choices or a lot of external situations, but you can let your
life force flow freely into the life that you have. Some lives are harder than others; some challenges are greater than others. Sometimes your challenges feel overwhelming to you. But as you remember that you are a very competent eternal soul who has been creating extraordinary things, lifetime after lifetime, perhaps it will give you the confidence to know that you have the capability to make skillful choices that increase joy and to navigate difficult waters with aplomb. The satisfaction you
get from overcoming a difficult challenge is greater than when you are dealing with relatively easy things. So as they say, it’s all good.
Often more advanced souls take on more difficult obstacles. Eventually, you emerge triumphant through whatever difficulties you have taken on. You are learning new skills. If you can navigate difficult waters without capsizing the boat, think of the finesse you will bring to whatever interests you
in the future.
This is a very different way of looking at life than most are used to. You are conditioned to believe that the world is more powerful than you are, that what has happened to you is bigger then you are, but the truth is that any problem that still lies before you is awaiting your artistry, and that you have what it takes to handle it. You can relax in the confidence that if you haven’t yet figured it out, you will — in
part because doing so interests you.
If I learn this, will I continue to have this consciousness in future lifetimes, or am I going to have to start over again?
Mostly, higher consciousness continues. The skills that you deeply internalize are carried forward, but you will create new experiences to test your skill. You will see where you are strong and where you are weak. It is not unlike training as a
dancer. You learn some things and get good at them — you internalize them by repetition and then you don’t have to think about them. But then you learn a new style and your muscles will need to learn to move in a different way; that may be a little difficult. You will plan your next lifetime according to what interests you most, and you won’t make it too easy because that would be less interesting, but you will also enjoy the fruits of your labors in this
lifetime.
During most of your past lifetimes, you were having lessons but you didn’t know that you were. Now you know that you are, and that accelerates your growth. You know better what you are doing. You are not blundering through life making blind choices. You know that you are choosing, and you can refine your ability to live. This will pay dividends in all your future lifetimes. You may not remember all the specifics but the
skills will be in place.
Skills do take a lot of repetition. A young dance student may have a lot of talent but she will have to be trained this way and that before her talent is in full bloom.
We are interested in teaching our students a whole different approach to the game of life that manages pain much more effectively. We are seeking to give you tools so that you can
avoid unnecessary pain, and when there is pain that you can’t avoid, you can navigate it more smoothly. Everybody is aging, for example, and there is some pain associated with the aging process, but it can be minimized — maybe not eliminated, but you can make smarter choices so that there is less pain, and when you do have pain, you can learn to relate to it with openness rather than resistance. You can embrace your challenges rather than tightening up in the face of them. You can ask, “What is
most interesting to me about this situation? Can I ease into this rather than fighting it? Or can I avoid it rather than plunging headlong into it?” The more you realize that you have choices, the less pain there will be, but for the time being there will be some pain.
When you are sensitive, you have a larger capacity for joy but also a larger capacity for pain, which is an incentive to become more conscious of your choices. If
you are alert, you can avoid a great deal of pain. When you do have pain, the smart thing to do is to embrace it, to recognize that you are an eternal soul and the pain will pass. When you freeze up in the face of the pain, you prolong it. When you fight it, you make it hurt more. If you feel all your feelings with love, those that are painful will pass much more quickly.
So will you have pain going forward? Some, but you need not fear
it. It won’t be as acute as what you have experienced in the past. As your joy becomes stronger, the pain becomes a minor annoyance and not the center of your world. That is why we encourage you to expand your joy and not worry about the pain so much. Try to find the bliss that any moment can give you. You have less to lose than you may have thought.
In making choices, you have the capability to explore probabilities. If you are
weighing a choice, ask within to see some likely outcomes. Nothing is guaranteed but you can feel into where certain choices are likely to lead. This is an excellent tool. What does this choice feel like? What does it look like? Where does it seem to be going? Do I like where it’s going?
In the unconscious state, people generally don’t think through their choices much, and this is why they grow more through pain. Many painful
consequences could be avoided if people thought and felt through the ramifications of choices they are considering. Impulsive choices without consciousness are much more likely be painful. However, choices are never wasted; they are all interesting lessons. Every choice you have ever made has been useful. They made you who you are, and who you are is pretty great. You have to have experiences to advance and, in a sense, one experience is as useful as another. So let go of regrets and be thankful
for all your experiences because they have allowed you to be the unique and extraordinary person you are. But moving forward, knowing what you now know, you can make choices that will be happier for you.
That is why you are on a spiritual path, is it not? To learn how to navigate the physical plane with skill. The greatest skill lies in embracing what is, including every choice you have ever made up until now. In the past you did
not know what you know now, but all those choices allowed you to know what you know now. And all your friends are benefiting from your growth just as you are benefiting from theirs. You are all in it together. We are all in it together.
