What It Really Means to Be Awakened: Finding the Sacred in Everyday Life

A grounded reflection on awakening, inner wisdom, and finding the sacred in everyday life.

When was the last time you were moved deeply by beauty?

A particular song. 

The face of a child taking in the world for the first time. 

A luscious piece of fruit. 

A sunrise or sunset. 

The stillness of night beneath a full moon. 

The brilliance of the stars.

Don’t overthink it. Let the first moment that comes to mind be the one you sit with now.

As you recall it, notice where you feel it in your body. Let that feeling arrive fully. Let it wash over you as if you were experiencing it for the first time.

That feeling — that deep appreciation, that quiet swelling of love — is what it is like to be awakened to your life.

This is your soul responding to something physical. The sunset, the music, the fruit… they are sensory experiences. But something magical happens when they engage us at a deeper level. When we truly see them.

How often do we mark the setting of the sun without really seeing it? 

Eat a meal just for sustenance? 

Walk past a flower without smelling it?

It is in the stopping — in the truly seeing — that we open the portal to our awakened state.

When we cultivate stillness regularly, we begin to see beauty everywhere. Not just see it… feel it. Experience it. Embody it.

Sometimes something so beautiful or delicious stops us in our tracks. We swell inside. We marvel. We feel light move through every cell of our being. (For me, most recently, it was coconut cream donuts at a restaurant in Minneapolis. Awakening can be deliciously ordinary.)

More often, though, in the busyness of our lives, we must choose stillness in order to access that state.

At first, it is a practice.

But as you awaken more fully, you begin — as the Navajo say — to walk in beauty.

You develop a deep reverence for how magical this life truly is. You begin to understand that we were not placed here simply to be born, work, and die. We are here to experience. To feel. To appreciate. To participate in the intricate web of human, animal, and plant life.

Every encounter becomes sacred.

You begin to trust that if the universe can create the intricate perfection of a blackberry that finds its way to your breakfast table, then you are part of something far greater than chance.

The awakened state is also a state of freedom.

Because when you are awakened, you trust that what is meant for you will not pass you by. That life is not happening to you — it is happening for you.

Now, does that mean life becomes easy? Of course not.

You will still grieve. You will still lose homes, partners, jobs, dreams. Being human is not all sunshine and rainbows. And if it were, where would our growth be? Where would our wisdom come from?

In the awakened state, you still feel the pain — deeply. But you also reflect. You learn. You expand. You begin to see how even loss can redirect you toward something new.

A new job. 

A new love. 

A deeper appreciation. 

A wiser version of yourself.

Without change, nothing would shift.

When you live awakened, you release the need to force outcomes.

You loosen your grip on control. And that release — that trust — is profoundly freeing. It relieves the pressure we place on ourselves to manage every detail of life.

You begin to see beauty everywhere. You might even thank your morning blackberries for their nourishment and sweetness.

You may even find yourself grateful for a loss — because without it, you would not be who and where you are now.

A Simple Practice: Awakening to Your Hands

Let me invite you into a small practice.

Hold out your hands.

Really look at them.

Set aside surface-level criticism and see them fully.

Think about all they have done. 

The hands you’ve shaken. 

The words you’ve written. 

The meals you’ve prepared. 

The laundry folded. 

The faces caressed. 

The babies held. 

The art created. 

The gardens planted. 

The music played. 

The clapping, the snapping, the living.

Are you in awe of what your hands have allowed you to experience?

Are you moved deeply?

If yes, you are awakened to your hands. And you may never see them the same way again.

Now expand that awareness.

To your whole body. 

To other people. 

To animals.

To plants and trees.

And you, beautiful one, will begin to walk in beauty.

You will move through this life with awakened eyes.

Awakening isn’t about becoming someone new. It’s about remembering who you already are.

Every moment of beauty, every pause, every breath of awareness is an invitation back to your own inner wisdom — the wisdom that has always been there.

If this reflection stirred something in you, I invite you to follow that stirring.

Whether through energy healing, intuitive guidance, working with You Are the Oracle, or exploring awakening through color and creative flow in an intuitive painting workshop, each offering is designed to help you strengthen the awakened awareness already within you.

If reflections like this resonate, you’re warmly invited to subscribe to the Moonflower Shines newsletter for gentle guidance delivered to your inbox. Simply complete the form at the bottom of this page.

In gratitude and love,

Gina

Founder & Guide, Moonflower Shines Energy Healing

✨Shine Brightly✨