Square Peggery

I was always... different. Born and raised an only child; a natural introvert. I was that kid who always opted to play alone during kindergarten. That five-year-old jerk that refused to stand up for the Pledge of Allegiance because I was so introverted that it pained me to partake in any activity with my peers. In fact, my favorite thing in Ms. Stork's kindergarten class was this game that I was so inventive with I can't even begin to recall any details of it, other than the family of cats that walked around in human clothing. Kind of like the Busytown books. Except it wasn't anything remotely close to Busytown, so that meant I was extra strange in the eyes of my class"mates".

Funny how that happens. If you think differently from those around you, they're so quick to make you an outcast. If you're not expanding on an idea that's not already popular with the masses, they think you're flying two sheets from the wind. Though, considering all of the kites I lost to the clouds, that's not entirely far-fetched.

In any case, my point is that we're not meant to follow others. Be your own leader. Dance to the beat of your own drum. Mine sounds like rainbows, dragons, and the Milky Way. Not your cup of tea? Good. It shouldn't be. We all have our own unique bucket of antics. Similar to a fingerprint, only more telling. Do your own stuff. And please, for the love of the universe, stop mirroring and parroting others.

You have a very unique set of gifts and talents. When you deny them, you not only deny your self-growth, you deny the rest of us a bright light on this chaotic canvas.

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To see more of what Holistically Yours is all about, visit my website!

Jayleen Hayden is a Level II Certified Usui Reiki Practitioner based out of the Greater Portland, Maine area.

Trusting the Blind Curve

Photography: Brooke Pennington | www.brookepennington.com

We all get to that point where we can no longer see the straight, ongoing trajectory of the path we've worked so hard at creating for ourselves. There it is; that epic moment of panic. That blind curve looming in front of us that elicits our finest "Oh sh*t!" reflex.

Some of us are lucky enough to experience this in the daylight, so there's at least an inkling that something is about to require our undivided attention. As for the rest of us? Well, we may as well be on that ominously winding road on the side of the mountain, in the middle of the darkest night weighted by the thickest fog, with no sign of the moon's forgiveness.

No illumination to guide us. No clarity in sight. No whispers helping us direct the wheel. We have nothing to rely on but inherent instincts. It's in this suspended moment that we're forced to trust our internal navigation. The beauty in this is, of course, cloaked by terror;  but it's exactly that which frees us. We're forced to act alone without external influences.

With our entire world muted, we have little else to consider outside our own senses. Trust the blind curve. As long as we follow our instincts, we'll never find ourselves on the wrong side of the road, even if the destination differs from our original intention.

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To see more of what Holistically Yours is all about, visit my website!

Jayleen Hayden is a Level II Certified Usui Reiki Practitioner based out of the Greater Portland, Maine area.

What about the boogeyman?

Well, what about the boogeyman? He's imaginary. Made up. A figment of our imagination. So what's the simple interpretation here? We fear imagination. 

Well then... that clears up quite a few things, doesn't it?

However we came into being, we were somehow created with this brilliant ability to imagine anything we want to. ANYthing! We were given this amazing gift and what's the first thing we do? We stomp all over it and treat it like a zombie virus. So that in turn creates this weirdly obscure fear that our visions, dreams, thoughts, wishes, and desires are pushing us one step closer to becoming Patient Zero. Nobody wants to be the origin of the zombie apocalypse, so I guess it makes sense that we pretend we don't have any imagination.

Every single one of us is our own boogeyman. The only reason we have fears is because we choose to subscribe to them, whether they originate with us or not. What we should be doing is imagining this gallant luck dragon engulfing the zombies and illuminating the shadows where all the boogeymen dwell.

At the moment, I'm willing to wager you're judging my sanity from my placing zombies, boogeymen, and luck dragons in the same instance. Just remember that logic we employ imposes limits. Heavy limits, at that. Try to feel happy and light when you're bogged down with fear as you turn every corner. It's not easily done.

Your imagination is just that - all yours. Why would you willingly sacrifice that to fear?


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To see more of what Holistically Yours is all about, visit my website!

Jayleen Hayden is a Level II Certified Usui Reiki Practitioner based out of the Greater Portland, Maine area.