I try to see the Beauty in everything
How could you not
when God's creations are everywhere
The sun in the sky
grass beneath my feet
Feeling grounded
Rooted in the I am, that I am
Nature is what I am
InBliss is where I tend to be
InBliss I am free
flowing through life with a stillness
joy meeting me at every turn
peace within mind
a heart filled with gratitude
InBliss is where I want to be
here right now
find bliss
when my mind strays
or a cloud overhangs
I remember InBliss is where I want to be
so I say hello to the clouds
embracing the now, what is
instead of what I wish not to be
InBliss I find peace in my reality
no stress, just happiness
through Faith in the most high
God holds my hand as I walk along my path
Keeping in stride
InBliss is where I Am
-Lee Sunshine (2023)
Podcast featuring a live reading of the poem and discussion about the poems contents
To be In Love
Recognizing the light within and all around you
To be In Love is to exist within a state of constant Loving awareness
Loving everything that you are aware of
To be aware is a gift
To be In Love is to melt into this awareness
Our spirit knows Love
In Love fear has no home
An open heart welcomes truth
God is Love
Feel the wind, see God
Feel the sun's rays, see God
Look at yourself, see Love
Look at yourself, see God
God is within and all around
To be In Love is to be Green
Heart chakra emanating light
Energy flowing freely
Extending your Love
Receiving Love
To be in Love is to return to nature
Our true nature, a state of being
To be In Love is to be unique
we are all unique in our ways of being
I am Love
I am Loving awareness
I am loving Awareness
I am awareness
-Lee Sunshine (2023)
Anger can be a catalyst for profound change. Change is a natural part of the human experience, no matter how much it may be resisted. Learning to flow with change can transform you into your highest self. The you that isn’t afraid to pivot along your journey. Pivoting is what happens when you are dealing with a situation or experience that feels familiar and you decide to take a different course of action than you usually do. A pivot inspires new ways of being. Personally I’ve been pivoting my anger, trying different actions when I am angry as a means of letting it pass through me instead of blocking my heart.
Admitting that I was angry at all was my first step towards changing this aspect of myself. I didn’t fully innerstand what my anger was trying to tell me, or why I yelled even when it made me feel worse. Listening to myself shout let me know I was dealing with something deeper. There is always something deeper, right under the surface, and waiting to receive light. Our anger usually has a lesson to teach us, my anger came to teach me alchemy. Alchemy can look different for everyone, it can be brought about by any element of your life. Making the conscious choice to transmute negative energy into something positive takes practice. Finding your favorite ways to transmute can simply begin with taking care of your needs. I realized when anger comes up for me, my need to be heard and feel safe aren’t being met. These needs gone unaddressed could lead to years of unintended suffering, but by choosing to pivot I am addressing them head on and creating something beautiful in the process.
I am currently learning how to transmute my rage into artwork, writings, and dance. It feels liberating and I am excited to witness my alchemy strengthen to the point where anger doesn’t consume me, but instead guides me. Serving only as a catalyst for the change I so lovingly seek.
For more on the topic of change, check out my podcast that expands on the ways embracing change has aligned me with who I truly am. Thank you for reading and I hope these words helped you in some way, feel free to share this with someone who may benefit!
All the love-
Lee Sunshine
Live Reading of Anger As the Catalyst by Lee Sunshine
Podcast to go along with today’s blog, for the auditory learners out there
Earlier this week I watched a Radical self love video by Jubilee, which encouraged me to share my own thoughts about this topic. In the video she talks about having to show up for her self before being able to show up for others. This made me think, what is my definition of radical self love? and why is it radical to love yourself in world that has forgotten all about love?
So I gave myself this week to focus on self love and what that means to me beyond the regular doing my hair, taking salt baths and my day to day self care practices. Writing this now I am realizing that there is a difference between Self love and Self care, why is this difference not talked about more?
Getting to the root of what Self love is, outside of caring for ones needs, can help you cultivate more loving energy within. If loving yourself goes beyond making sure you are cared after, then what is left over? Well…
Self Love is Rad because it requires you to speak positively towards yourself and others. Words are powerful, they carry thought into form and therefore bring thoughts to life. Being mindful of the words you surround yourself with, whether it’s from music, a podcast or tv show, is important. All of what you say and expose yourself to becomes a blueprint for your subconscious to learn from and adapt to. So why not say nice things to yourself, positive affirmations, instead of beating yourself down.
To be loving of yourself is to honor your word as a way of showing yourself that you believe in the words that you speak, enough to put action behind what you say.
Radical self love means that your sovereignty and authentic expression are never jeopardized out of fear or to make others more comfortable.
Self love means to forgive your past selves for what they did not know
Self love is to remain curious and open to new knowledge (no matter the form it presents itself)
Self love is removing pressure that stems from expectations that are external to yourself
Self love is to shoot for a higher self, a higher frequency each and everyday
Self love is to BE Loving because as human beings we are manifestations of love, to be anything other than that is to go against nature
I hope these were helpful as you continue forming your own definitions of radical self love.
To answer the second question I posed at the start of today’s blog, I’d say that self love is radical because it calls for people to turn within instead of relying on external beings or things to give you what you already have. Once you tap into the abundant source of love that you are, meaning can be found in even the smallest of things.
The next time someone asks if you love yourself, I hope you can say “Yes I do, isn’t it rad?”
I have began to think of my life within frames of seasons, periods of time shaped with purpose. In the past I wasn’t super aware of what these seasons were, my life just seemed to move along. Throughout it all journaling has been a part of my life, speaking out loud to myself has always been a part of my life. As early on as 7 years young I knew that there was an importance to capturing my thoughts and feelings. Even now I feel that importance in a new way. Capturing so much of what I have thought of has given me reminders of different parts of my life and the things I value for my lifetime. Things like a safe home, genuine love, and freedom. Reminding myself of the things I’d imagined over and over again helped bring them closer to me as time past. Now I have so many aspects of living that I’ve desired for awhile; all from these reflections of the past and coming into awareness of what it is that I truly want. No guilt or shame associated with desire either, that mentality had to go so that what I imagined became real.
The current season of my life feels like the beginning of a new transition; the part where I choose to show up as myself and be in a state of receiving. It took a great manifestation just for me to be sitting here typing this. The first season of my life that brought me to this awareness of personal seasons is aptly named The Realization Period. During this time I felt very much so born again, with a new found sense of being alive fully. It was like I’d slowly woken up from a long restful slumber. My childhood and adolescents had a new color to them, I began to innerstand why I’d come to be who I was and why I didn’t recognize these shadow parts of myself. As I went along realizing, each day bringing forth some deep belief or memory, I felt lighter and more aware than I had in a long time. Probably since before I could recollect my thoughts.
I have since developed a fondness for all the beings I witnessed during this time, who helped me realize and let go of a lot. Listening to self-love and self-help podcasts has become one of my favorite things to do. So much so that I began my own podcast last year! YouTube has since become one of my go to places to witness people who I relate to and want to learn from. Listening to people talk about their lives brought up memories that I hadn’t processed fully and helped to move past them. Plus it was a nice way to not feel alone on the days where loneliness felt abundant. Receiving personal realizations as a result of reading or listening to someone else reflect on their life is a blessing. Now I wish to share in the same way, so far it has been interesting to step into this realm of sharing virtually. Having outlets like these is such a cool aspect of the 21st century though, to think billions of beings are connecting and relating across bounds!
Writing is a daily practice that has allowed me to be where I am today. Much gratitude for the power of words, thought, and expression. Thank you for reading, I am trying to get back into the practice of blogging consistently so hopefully this helps! Check out my podcast for more @youtooarealoveleebeing
I wanted to start a podcast… so I did. I’m following my faith and doing what I love, that love has brought me here. I will share many thoughts within these episodes. My hope is that I can inspire at least one person to do what makes them happy and BE the Being that they came here to be. We all deserve to be happy and free to Create, Express & Love.
Below you’ll find the introduction to my podcast. In it I recite a poem and set the tone for what I hope to be a long series of reflections. Speaking aloud and listening to others speak has always been healing to me. Hearing words that resonate can trigger changes within or even just a simple perspective shift. With this in mind I began sharing my words on this blog and through my podcast in September 2021. The next few blog posts will be spot lights on my previous podcast episodes from this year. In 2022 there will be many more!
Do you have a favorite self help/self love/inspiring podcast? Comment below!
Thank you for listening to my podcast, feel free to share.
Sometimes, you are the only one who can give you the reality check that you need. In this episode I share some more quotes from The Untethered Soul by Micheal Singer, a book that helped me a lot in 2021. Especially during the time of this recording, I was reflecting on what letting go means to me and honestly trying my best to not give into the trauma responses I was so use to relying on.
Unlearn aspects of self so that you can be the YOU that YOU want to be
I know I don’t have to hold on to hurt or negative feelings, and that letting go is a lifelong learning process. As I play this episode back, listen to my tone and the thoughts I shared, my heart is happy. Two months has gone by since this recording and I can say that Reality checks have gotten much easier. I welcome them now, It is refreshing to be ok with the reality of life. Living with as many blurred edges and out of sight, out of minds as I did left me at point where reality felt too terrifying.
Now I embrace my reality more and more each day, the joys of my life without running away from what is. I started saying new positive affirmations in the rising. Listening to this episode reminded me of one of my old favorite positive affirmations:
My Mind Serves me it does not work against me
Here are some of the quotes I mentioned from the book during the podcast. They each brought up so many feelings for me and made me realize how far I’ve come in my journey of self rediscovery. Reading words like these resonates now more than ever. I really love books, I am so grateful for their ability to capture thoughts for lifetimes.
Untethered Soul quotes
“Ask yourself “who am I” more often, you are not your thoughts”
“Talking releases energy”
“Reality is too real for most of us, so we temper it with the mind”
“True personal growth is about transcending the parts of you that need protection”
Available on Spotify, Apple Podcast and everywhere podcast stream!
Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy the episode! For more things You Too Are A LoveLee Being you can follow my blog and Spotify.
Saying kind words to myself everyday is one of the ways I have transformed my life. I am a firm believer in the power of spoken word, in this episode I share some of my own affirmations and reflect on why I chose these words to lift me up everyday. For some fun context I recorded this episode in a local park near my home in West side Chicago, IL. As I was sitting in the park a family of ducks were migrating to the other side of the land and it really added to the moment for me.
This year involved a lot of firsts in my life and saying affirmations on a daily basis, even when I didn’t feel like it, was a major first. I consider myself an optimistic person so saying positive things seemed easy enough but I quickly learned that there is much more to affirming ones self than the words alone. All of what we say, our words, have strength and the intention behind them is what really makes the impact that is felt. Wether you believe what you are affirming to be true or not, starting with the words and then flowing into the embodiment of what they mean can create a whole new world of meaning.. This flow is what carries the affirmation from our mind and into our hearts. I am still in the practice of really accepting the flow for what it is. Below I included the affirmations I discuss in this episode. I hope they lift you up and inspire you to create some affirmations of your own.
Affirmations
I am that I am, nothing more nothing less. I am me, blessed. Bless
I can inspire others just by being myself, I am enough
Everything happening now is happening for my ultimate good, everyday I am growing
In this moment and in all moments I am exactly where I am supposed to be
This week’s sounds of the week we have the eclectic Arthur Russell. I came across the ’08 documentary Wild Combination: A portrait of Arthur Russell by Matt Wolf last week and was so surprised by what I saw. I was even more surprised by what I heard. Through a mirage of different home videos, clips from the artist’s past, and photos served as the introduction to a musician who seemed to embody what it meant to be a creator. In the documentary it was made clear that Arthur’s life revolved around music and the creation of sound. From the instrumentation to the signature echo in his voice, all aspects of his music involve a wild combination of sounds. Sounds that turned into songs which captured intimate and feeling driven moments in the artist’s life.
Trailer for Wild Combination Documentary
As I write I am listening to the Calling out of Context album, released posthumously by Arthur’s estate in 2000. An original compilation of sounds from what appears to be a multitude of sources, the 1 hour project takes you through seemingly honest renditions of the artists’ thoughts and experiences at a point in time. My favorite song from this album is That’s Us/Wild Combination. I really like how simple the songs appear at first, but once I listened a few times the layers to the song became apparent. The nuance of his singing, paired with the unpredictable melody, created a sound like none that I have heard before. One minute into the song I find myself dancing along to lyrics like:
Hard as I can be,
it's never too hard
With this our love to see, by it's own light
Love inside of me, it's working at night
The sentiment of feeling love for another and ones self is relatable and touching to hear. This was a cool introduction to an artist I’ll be listening a lot going into this new year. It’s fascinating to learn how he created an abundance of music during his time. All despite not being chosen as a mainstream artist of his generation. A real testament to following ones passions in life with a faith that may appear blind to some, but at heart is what you came here to express in a way that is true. Thank you Arthur Russell, a truth sharer and inspiration to all artist out there. And Thank you Matt Wolf for making the film that brought this sound to my awareness.
Give it a listen for yourself and let me know what you think in the comments below!
There is a lot of greatness to be believed and a lot of greatness to be had in this world.
Lee Sunshine, YouTooAreALoveleeBeing Season 1 episode 3
Streaming on Spotify, Apple podcast, and more!
In this weeks episode I share some of the lessons I learned in the past week when it came to being a full-time artist. I speak about valuing yourself, your gifts, and being in a state of gratitude. Throughout the episode I share some of the positive affirmations I use to reaffirm myself during times of self doubt. 2021 was the year I started to believe in myself in ways that I never have before. I use to rely on external validation to motivate me to go after anything I wanted. It took ample time alone and lots of reflection to realize there is much more value in self validation, especially for talents or personal gifts. I mean who else knows better than YOU, of what YOU are capable of? Learning to accept help even though I have gotten use to, and comfortable with, accomplishing things on my own. It is vital to ask for and accept help while we are on this journey called life. Accepting these aspects of life have helped me step out of my way slowly but surely and allow more blessings to find me. Below you will find the affirmations I discussed in this weeks episode. May they help you when you are in need of a reminder 🙂
AFFIRMATIONS
I will step out of my own way today and I will seize all the opportunities meant for me
There is an infinite amount of potential for your life to be as great as you want it to be
I can do anything I set my heart to do, I know my worth and I value myself
Living in a state of gratitude is the gift that keeps on giving
The little things make all the big things matter, the little things are just as valuable
