Written by: Carla Atherton, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
This is Part 2 of an 11-part series. Search this site for the rest of the series!
I love listening to podcasts, watching videos and films that inspire me, engaging with content created by people who inform and enlighten just by speaking their truth, exploring their genius, and sharing their wisdom, insights, epiphanies, and revelations.
None of the teachers, gurus, and companions that I choose to invite into my life and who inspire my own personal evolution, push any kind of agenda through fear (you are going to get sick of you don’t do what I say), or coercion (you are wrong, and I am right even if you don’t believe that), or manipulation (I am only going to push my own version of reality), or claiming authority over my life (you are not a doctor or psychiatrist or other “professional” trained by a governing body created by some group of people who claim to have authority, so you can’t make your own decisions about your health). No. And no.
The people I choose to engage with encourage the exploration of our own individual genius, seek to connect rather than divide, and inspire and encourage the creation of our own reality. Because each of us has that power and exercise it at every moment, whether we are aware of it or not.
One of these beautiful souls, Matias De Stefano, said something in a podcast episode that rang as true and clear to me as the peeling of a bell. In relation to the reality, the matrix, in which we live, he asked the question: are you the spider or the fly? Woah! “Two snaps and a rewind!” My first and final response: I am the spider.
Perhaps it was spiritual butt whooppers like Carolyn Myss who primed me so this truth could land or the other wise life teachers who had me take a good look at my life and what self-sabotaging beliefs kept me stuck in some areas of my evolution, but the spider/fly/web was a metaphor that sent me straight to Canva to create a visual expression of that truth.
So, let’s unpack that metaphor for a moment. The fly is trapped in a web created by the spider intent on trapping its prey. The fly has no control over its fate once trapped. The fly is an unwitting victim, a tragic figure, the weak being, the prey, the food for the creator of the web. The spider in this scenario holds the power, but power over the fly, using the fly for its own gains. If we are the fly, the web is not ours. The web becomes our prison and our ultimate demise. Not really the reality I want to live in.
Now, what if we were to erase the fly entirely, become the spider, and weave our own web? This web can become anything we want it to be, whatever we create, and we can catch not victims, but ideas, our own constructs, whether they be physical creations like jobs and houses and art and good health, or perceptions of our experience like mindset and purpose and motivation and belief. As the spider, we are no longer the victim, tragic, weak, or trapped in a reality we don’t want. We choose what we focus on and how we perceive life events. Metaphor aside, we literally become the creators of our own reality and experience of it.
If all you envision for yourself is ill health, chronic stress, and financial struggle, then that is what you will create. This is not only a matter of seeing the glass as half full (which it partially is and something we will discuss in future installments of this series), but actually filling the glass.
In a world where we are constantly told how to be, what we should do, who we are, and who is more valuable, it can be difficult to see our own power. This process is not one of becoming empowered per se, but of realizing the power we have always had, the power we exercise at every moment. In other words, we constantly create and perpetuate illness and discomfort, and at the same time create and perpetuate wellness and harmony.
Let’s get something straight so we don’t succumb to the limits of what the mainstream considers to be possible or a definitive definition of “reality.” Let’s briefly unpack that very definition of reality, itself.
First, the reality isn’t truth; it’s a construct. Yes, you heard me. Each person builds their own reality according to what inputs they receive and how they interpret them, and there are as many versions of reality as there are people on this earth at this time in history, who have been in the past, and who will be in the future. Further, any one person’s reality is not any more true than the next person’s.
So what the hell is real, then?! What do we do with that idea? How does this become relevant in this life we are living in this meat suit here with our feet planted firmly on the earth in a physicality that makes sense to us?
I can’t tell you what THE truth is about the universe. It is a question humans will endlessly contemplate, and if we land on an “answer” we will only limit what could be. But one thing I do know is that we are co-creators in it, and what I want to emphasize here is possibility. To move away from our limited conclusions and back into imagination. To shed those limitations. And to be open to the miracle of life, the earth, the universe, and the potential in us all.
We have control over that reality, whether we want to claim it or not. We can choose to be disempowered. And we can also choose to take back the reins. Our conditioning due to the media, advertising, social control, and some unhealthy cultures have made us forget that. And I want you to remember.
When we make this shift from victim to creator, we can then see a potential prison that ensnares us as instead a playground for our life experiences. We become the spider creating the web of our reality rather than the fly trapped in the reality we are unconsciously creating. If we can become conscious to the fact that we are, at every moment, either creating what we don’t want or what we do want, we can then see the true power we have over our health: our mental state, our emotional state, and our bodies. All of it.
We control what we do with our time, how we experience the world, what we can learn. We can focus on what elevates us, what is congruent with our soul’s purpose, what makes us feel and actually be alive. We transcend illusionary limitations. We venture forth into the unknown with excitement without recreating past wounds, illness, hurt, or dis-ease because we are no longer afraid or unaware of our own power.
You might be thinking that this is a great philosophy, but not realistic. How can you say that I am creating diabetes or depression or my own financial ruin? Reality is what I can see and understand. That may be true, but ONLY if you can’t see and understand what else there could be. And we start there. We start with the unknown. And that is where creation begins.
So, I will ask you: what would you rather believe? That you are a victim of circumstance, the actions of others around you, and bad luck, OR that you have all of the power to create the health, life, and future that you want?
Is your life your playground or your prison? Are you the victim or creator? Are you the spider or the fly?
Big Shifts for Today:
Shift your prison into your playground
Shift from victim into the creator
Shift from being the fly into being the spider
Check back for the next installment of this series: Shifting from Chronic Health Conditions, Emotional Strife, and Stress into Kick-ass Health Empowerment
Session 3: Transmuting Fear
Or back up to Session 1: Shift into Healing
Carla Atherton, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Carla Atherton, MA, FDN-P, is the Director of the Healthy Family Formula and the HFF Practitioner Training Academy, Host and Producer of the Children's Health Summit, Author of Family Health Revolution, Host of the Family Health Revolution Podcast, Health Empowerment Coach, Holistic Family Health Consultant, Yoga Instructor and Mind/Body Facilitator, and Children's Health Advocate. Spurred on by the love for her three glorious and grown children and her husband, Carla's mission is to support people to achieve their best health through information, guidance, and empowerment.
Carla lives on an acreage in rural Saskatchewan, Canada, where she works from a home office. In addition to empowerment and health coaching, teaching others this skill through her academy, and leading “Hero’s Journey” creative writing workshops, Carla also works with families from all over the world on the reversal of conditions such as Autoimmunity: Type 1 Diabetes, PANDAS/PANS/Autoimmune Encephalitis, Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis, and Celiac Disease and Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity; Asthma, Allergies, Eczema, and Reactivity; ADHD, Autism, Sensory Processing Disorder, Learning Disabilities; Depression, Anxiety, Mental Health Disorders, Eating Disorders, ODD; Other Neurological Conditions; Obesity, Type 2 Diabetes, and Metabolic Disorders; Untangling Mystery Symptoms, Complex Cases, and Co-Morbidities (having more than one condition); Mold Illness; Multiple Chemical Sensitivity; Lyme; Other Infection; and Addictions. Carla is on a revolutionary mission to empower families to transcend our new normal of ill health and chronic dis-ease.
