When we feel a sense of lack and inner emptiness, we may desperately try to distract ourselves from the feeling or to alter or fix external conditions to get some relief from our discomfort without addressing the core root of our pain – our Self-Source disconnection (whether we define ‘Source’ as God, higher power, universal order, mystical life purpose, an impersonal Tao, a self-determined existential humanism, or a personal sense of essential wholeness….)

We may cope with this disconnection in various ways -  we could engage in addictive behavior, dissociate through denial and projection, seek external validation and social approval... we could turn inward to meditative reflection, creative self-expression, immerse ourselves in nature, adopt a worthy cause to devote ourselves to… or we could become more consciously aware of our stories – the ones that shape our reality by defining our experiences and our self-concept.

What is the story we live by? Is it even ours? Did we choose it? Or was it given or forced on us by others, subconsciously inherited, influenced by past trauma, or unquestionably acquired through habit or mindless repetition? Is the meaning and purpose behind our story motivated and propelled by love? Fear? Revenge? Does our story connect and nourish us, or does it dis-empower us or others? Perhaps there was a time when our story served a purpose, but when circumstances shifted, or we outgrew the need for it, that once life-expanding story only kept us stuck and depleted.