Once upon a time, I followed my lifelong dream and moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. A friend asked me, "If you weren't an actor, what else would you want to be? " 

​My (immediate, as if it was a thing) answer: "A traveling philosopher."

Years later, while working on camera and venting to a colleague about how unfulfilled I was starting to feel in my chosen occupation, she asked,  "Well, what do you REALLY want to do? " ​

​My (surprising at the time) answer: "I want to inspire people. I want to wake them up and remind them of who they really are."

A couple of years after that, I had already fallen into a fun career in voiceover and was spending the majority of my free time as a spiritual seeker and student when a first date inquired, "What do you do when you're not working?" 

​My (totally honest) answer: "I go on walks, take photos of flowers, and write down what comes to me." 

A lot has happened since then. I went through what I lovingly refer to as my super-woo phase. I offered intuitive readings. Taught workshops. Moved back to the east coast. Started coaching voice actors. Shared my Message Of The Day experiment via social media. Compiled my writing and photography into two books. Met my partner Jon. And eventually relocated to the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains where I continue to voice other people's projects while simultaneously creating my own.

And in the several expansive years since the beginning of this story, I have learned that:
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• Fulfillment is never found somewhere out there; it is never dependent on any one particular job or position. It’s a destination within; a feeling we can activate. And what we find fulfilling may change as we do. If, fifteen years ago, you would have told me that by following my intuition and true interests, I would go from working on indie films to voicing a slew of commercials to (at least, emotionally) leaving the entertainment business behind to giving psychic readings to hundreds of people to then one day be watching an episode of the new Magnum PI and think, “I really miss being an actor” – I would NEVER have believed you. Especially about Magnum PI. 

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• When I'm seeking fulfillment, what I'm really seeking is inspiration. And not just that sort of fleeting, lightbulb "aha" moment where I suddenly feel inspired to do something. I mean the kind of sustained inspiration that can only come from feeling connected to the deeper, spiritual aspect of myself: the true source of energy, power, creativity, you name it. The part that isn't swayed by life's temporary ups and downs or the moods and whims of myself and other people. When I'm feeling unfulfilled (or not good enough or lacking in someway) it's probably because I'm disconnected from that spiritual aspect. Like a lamp that’s unplugged from the outlet who keeps trying to plug itself into other lamps. So how do we plug into the outlet? How do we get connected with that spiritual aspect of ourselves? We make the decision. We find the practices and perspectives that work for us, when they work for us. Because sometimes they don't work. And that's ok too. Pretending to feel good when you don't – or trying to reframe your true feelings with forced positivity because of the societal pressure to have to continually be/do/get better – actually pushes you further away from yourself anyway. Some moments in life are beautiful edible poetry and other moments are pungent piles of shit. Resistance through denial or spiritual bypass is ineffective in the long run. Often, the only way out of the humanness is through. Emotions want to be processed and released. And once they are, that's when we can experience those deeper, more sustained states of inspiration.

 

• Feeling inspired and taking actions based on that inspiration – whatever it may be for you at the time – is the best way to inspire others. Back to the lamp analogy, plug that thing in and brighten up the room for all the other unplugged lamps; in the same way that it was/is brightened up for you. It's much easier to search for your own outlet in a more well-lit space. (Ok, bear with me on the lamp concept. It's sort of a felt cute/may delete later situation because a room with an infinite amount of lamps and electrical outlets seems a bit ridiculous in reality. However, in a limitless imagination, anything's possible).

 

• The ultimate fulfillment we seek can only ever be experienced right now as we honor our inner truth and follow our natural interests, whatever they may be. As it says in Wisdoms Of The Formerly Wilted, "Joy is the language of the soul. Lightness, ease, and freedom are its dialects. Living a soul-aligned life means following the joyful pull of your intuitive body and trusting it wherever it takes you."