Do you feel a little weird or afflicted lately? Is life beginning to feel as if you are constantly trying to stuff a round peg in to a square hole?

Becoming round in a world of square is pretty scary. Humans are pack animals. This stems from a time in our evolutionary development when we needed the tribe to protect us. If we did something which set us apart from the tribe, we were literally set-apart from the tribe. That meant certain death….from the elements, animals, starvation. That need to belong is so hard wired into our reptilian brain, that fitting in has seemed more important than standing out….until now!

If you’re hearing the call to live with originality and authenticity, the blueprint for how that will look resides inside you. The only thing standing between you and the ‘Holy Grail’ of true self-knowledge is conditioning. We learn as small children the how-to’s of socialization. Do this; Wear this; Be this; Say this; Believe this….and so on. The real you is buried under all that brain training.

One of the ways you can unwrap the true you is to learn to hear your inner voice and find a way to express that on the outer. Hence the self-made mandala attached to this article. Our very first I AM Workshop wrapped up this past Wednesday and it was a resounding success. Connection (inner and outer), laughter and a sense of belonging meant the 4 weeks ended too quickly for facilitators and participants alike. Everyone learned to design and draw their own mandalas based on the messages they received while in meditation.

The word mandala is a Sanskrit word meaning circle. The circle signifies unity. It has been used throughout the history of man. Physicists hypothesize that the Big Bang which created the Universe began with a central point and has been expanding outwards ever since. The centre is the point of focus and the outer circle(s), the periphery of dispersion. The image in the mandala is a visual representation of creation, expansion and wholeness. As within, so without!

It’s wonderful to see adult colouring books featuring mandalas everywhere. We are connecting with an ancient understanding as we struggle to make sense of ourselves and our place within the whole. Einstein’s theory of relativity would suggest that any reference point is the centre and therefore all reference points are interchangeable. Each of us are creators of the self and of the whole. The centre of the mandala represents the centre of the self or the seed of the whole. Again…As within, so without! We each have tremendous power to manifest a different picture of this world we inhabit.

As many struggle for a sense of wholeness in an age of fragmentation, the mandala conveys a truth. True connection is a connection with the self, with the inner. Unfortunately, the 21st century human has been ‘brain-trained’ to find connection outside the self. Corporations drive advertising and humans subconsciously make choices based on a stimulus which originates outside the self. The value of an object is based on the hype surrounding it and not related to any innate value, or connection with our own inner values. Connection with the label we wear, the car we drive, or through the ‘friends’ we have on social media…is a connection outside the self.

This false sense of connection is beginning to feel inauthentic for many. We want something different, but don’t quite know how to achieve it. Humans have always used expanded awareness as an impetus for evolution….and that awareness originates from the centre. (By the way; there is no judgement around any of the above mentioned connections. We are finding our way and these are tools to help us do that. Some tools we choose to keep and use often, others we will re-tool or discard.)

Evolution, wholeness and the resulting change is not a linear process. It is a circumambulation of the self. It is a mandala of connection with the centre and the resulting expansion in to a new reality. As life rounds out those square edges, you will experience uncomfortable life situations which serve to carve a better fit for your emerging reality. ’Round Peg Syndrome’ is a sure sign your are entering a stage of expanded evolution.

We are all in the midst of a more profound evolution of self and society than we can imagine. Many are venturing out from the safety of the tribe and finding support from those who are already living a life of greater authenticity. Not only are those way-showers surviving, they are thriving. Those round peg’ers are building a life with a different  landscape. If you are afflicted with ‘round-peg syndrome’ we’d love for you to join us in this rapidly evolving society of originality and authenticity. The medicine for this affliction is as follows…