B.E.S.T.

Seeking to experience life at its best is often framed as:

Living our best lives.

Doing our best.

Being our best.

But it's not about being the best or the most excellent and effective individual compared to others. Experiencing life at its best is about connecting with our heart's desires and emotional frequencies so that we can more gracefully stride into our most excellent and effective selves instead of dragging our bodies in and out of trenches. For me, the connection is about being spiritually engaged throughout my daily life.

B.E.S.T.

Be Engaged Spiritually Throughout

I didn't grow up with a spiritual or religious background, and mythical stories weren't shared at bedtime, during dinnertime, or around a campfire. My parents lived by moral codes from their Catholic upbringing, but beyond my mom saying "gracias a Dios" (thank you, God) now and then, I didn't have personal examples of the what and how of something greater.

Though I was curious about the meaning of something greater than ourselves, the capacity to recognize what this could be for me was dormant until I hit my mid-thirties. Without writing an entire book about the experiences that got me to this point, I've come to see my lifelong journey of being my best self as nothing other than a spiritual pursuit. A pursuit steeped in a spiritual connection to myself and the world around me. An acknowledgment that a connection to goodness—the nourishment that comes from doing what feels good, healthy, and expansive—is always available through a higher source. This source is the Universe, God, The Cosmos, The Divine, or whatever you choose to call it. It's both a higher power and an inside job where engagement is essential.

This goodness shows up through journaling, being in nature and with friends and family, homemaking, dancing, meditation, writing, and reading stories and works from other people who are living (or have lived) spiritually engaged lives. This goodness may also show up through making art, cooking, building, sewing, problem-solving, caring for others, gardening, etc. The list is endless because the possibilities for connecting with goodness are infinite.

Living in this connected state of being is tricky—it must be practiced and conditioned to the point of muscle memory. When I disengage from the practices that play with the energetic forces I believe to be true, my whole being is negatively affected. There's little to no play involved, just self-imposed misery. I feel stuck, sluggish, irritable, frustrated, and exhausted from pushing invisible boulders up a mountain and letting them haphazardly roll around in my head. Eventually, I see the boulders for what they are—emotional blocks, tests, opportunities to connect deeper—and I re-engage with my B.E.S.T. self. The connection is never lost. Instead, it's like having a phone number to call 24/7; if you drop the line, call again because there is always a loving and helpful response on the other side.

I recently came across these street tags by Visionz:

I did a double take because growing up in LA this style of graffiti was typically associated with territorial expressions. These tags in the Adelaide Hills of South Australia, albeit technically vandalism, are well-wishes and spiritual messages.

"Be your blessed" is be your best; be your connected self. Your B.E.S.T. self.

"Today is a God day" is today is a good day; a day to see, do, and feel what's good. A day to connect with the goodness within and all around you.

I loved coming across these messages. I wish the world had more scattered about, but as spirituality tends to go, the what and how are deeply personal and often remain an internal experience. Every so often, however, you see or hear a love note from a fellow human living their B.E.S.T. life. It's a reminder that spiritual connection is universal and has the desire to express itself through different mediums. We don't experience this life alone, so sometimes the thing(s) that feel good to you—things that are nourishing to the soul, healthy to the mind, and expansive to the heart—are just the things that need to be expressed beyond the self.

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Here's another love note in musical form, from Paul McCartney and Beck, that relates to having a phone number to call 24/7. Go ahead...groove with it ;)

Well I can find my way
I know my left from right
Because we never close
I'm open day and night

I know my way around
I walk towards the light
I'm open round the clock
I don't get lost at night