By Student/Acolyte Gabrielle Banta

This year one of my growth intentions has been presence. I have been taking the step of being with presence and being my postulate/divine tone in all areas of my life. I notice that whenever I am in stillness and am being, I experience ease, centeredness, and flow in myself, creations, and interactions with others.

An area of my life that has felt easy for me to be in presence is painting. When I am making a painting, I feel my divine tone, know the aligned intention of the creation, and am in the flow of listening how to create. I am guided in the overall image, the colors to use, the size of the canvas, and so on.

This year I have committed to embodying this space and being with presence in other areas of my life. An area of my life that is more challenging for me to be in presence is at work. At work, I have had the habit of leaning out of the presence, thinking, and acting from there. Whenever I act from this space, it is bumpier. For example, one time I felt the need to call a work client because I thought “I should” and I was “supposed to.” When I called the person, they ended up letting me know this was not a good time to speak with them. I have a million small moments like this at work where I have chosen to lean out of the flow of presence and it resulted in bumps.

I have begun to experience what it is like when I choose to be my tone at work. I made the commitment and choice that being my God space was going to be my number one priority. When I am simply being, I notice that timing, scheduling, and interactions, all flow with ease. For example, in the being space, I followed the guidance/divine timing to call a client 2 days later (something my thinking mind argued with). During the call two days later, the client was calm and already had many of their questions/problems answered. Additionally, I have had wonderful healing interactions with others just by choosing to be in the divine space. I notice that people feel more safe, open, and that the interaction is filled with presence & healing. It is so incredible to me how powerful and healing it is to just be and act from there in my life.

I still do lean out of this space. When this happens I pause, breathe, feel this space of being again, and continue to flow. I am amazed by the ease I feel in this space and I am excited to be more and more in my life.

This year I have learned that when I am leaning out of the presence, support is still available. Early in the morning a couple of months ago I was leaning forward and leaving the presence. I was pushing/thinking and chose to take out a large bag of garbage. While I was taking out the garbage bag, I had the knowingness that I should take the trash out in two bags because this one was too heavy. Instead of listening, I leaned into my plan and continued to take out the bag. While I was carrying the garbage bag to the can outside, I fell down on a set of cement stairs and cut my hands and legs. When I was on the ground, I could feel the pain of the cuts and was feeling upset. I then heard the information come in of you can stay upset right now or pause and listen to how to get up and take care of yourself. I chose to listen. My guides showed me how to adjust my legs and where to put my hands in order to get up off the ground safely. I then listened to how to clean my cuts and bandage them. A day later, I shared this story with one of my spiritual friends and showed them my cuts. They pointed out that my cut was in the shape of a “J.” When I looked at this I was shocked and my mind could not understand how I had a cut that curved and made the shape of a “J”. The person pointed out how this was a “J” for Jesus. I then realized that this cut was actually next to another scar I got from a Jesus picture a couple years earlier. I realized that it was my guides reminding me to stay on track. At times when I am very stuck, my guides and creator have to give me very obvious messages to remind me to reconnect to the flow and presence. It was amazing for me to see how even when I am off track, the guides and the divine are present and there to support me in re-aligning.