Every experience comes to us in one of four ways: As a feeling, a thought, an action, or simply a sense of being. The ego fiercely protects its view of the world, and we’ve all experienced how wispy and fleeting any experience can be when it doesn’t fit our ingrained belief system.

Here are some subtle changes that alert me to feelings, thoughts, actions, and being, that are coming from an awareness perspective:

FEELINGS
• A lightness in my body.
• A sense that all is well, that I am at home in the world.
• A feeling of landing in a soft place where I am safe.
• A feeling that something lies beyond the sky or behind the mirror.

THINKING
• I know more than I think I do
• I need to find out who I really am.
• My internal dialogue has suddenly stopped.

ACTIONS
• I sense a greater power acting through me.
• I am acting out of complete integrity.
• I gave up control and what I wanted simply came to me.

BEING
• I realize that I am cared for.
• I realize that my life has purpose, that I matter.
• I see that I am unique.
• I feel drawn to the center of things.

Awareness is just itself—pure, alive, alert, silent, and full of potential.

The boundaries between the categories are blurry. There is only the slightest difference between feeling that I am safe, for example, and knowing that I am safe. From this I can proceed to acting as if I am safe until finally I realize, without a doubt, that my whole existence has been safe since I was born: I am safe. In practical terms, this is what it means to weave a whole new pattern.

I can take any other item from the list and weave similar interconnections. As I draw thought, feeling, action, and being together, the experience becomes more real; I am learning to put myself in this place.