Have you ever been so caught up analysing everything in your life and career that you seem to be going around in circles. And the more you analyse where you want to go the more stressful it becomes!
In 1998 I was in such a place. I had travelled half the world doing personal development, mind development, spiritual development courses. I loved them all pretty much but I still seemed to be at an impasse and all the left brained analysis I was doing was stressing me out! So one day I stopped and decided to connect with my heart.
I sat down at my desk  and asked myself – “what’s my ultimate dream in this moment in time?” I got a sheet of A4 paper and a pen and I began to draw. I didn’t allow any limiting thoughts to enter my mind. I connected with my heart and let it guide my drawing. The picture below is what I drew:
In it I’m playing guitar and there’s a set of bagpipes and a bodhran which I also love playing. I also drew myself performing on a stage and a few small Irish cottages. I called it “Celtic Experience”
Now one other very important step in creating a vision is to ask “Why?“. Why do we want our vision to come true – the bigger the why the more we will do to realise our vision. For example if the life of someone you love depended on you achieving your dream you’d do everything you possibly can to realise it!
I wrote some key words down to remind me of why I wanted to achieve this vision – Â “Bliss”; “Spiritual”; “Inspirational”; “Contribution”; “Connection”; and “Love”. These are values that are very important to me.
I put my dream vision on the wall in my office and carried on with my job as before but now I had sown a seed for where I wanted to go with my life. And this time it would be guided by my heart.
Fast forward to September 2001. After the events of 9/11 I decided to join a group of others on a peace pilgrimage to Assisi, Italy. Â The main reason I went was to do whatever I could to help with the cause of world peace, especially given the turmoil the world was in after 9/11.
You know though sometimes when we go out to change the world, we soon learn it’s ourselves we really need to change, as an old saying goes “change yourself and the world around you changes”.
One morning while in Assisi we went down into the tomb of St Francis (a small chapel where his body rests). As I entered I could feel this amazing vibration, a feeling of profound beauty and love. In fact to be honest I could never put what I experienced into words. It was heavenly. And indeed I could see many others felt the same as they were moved to tears as they entered this very sacred space.
I had felt quite emotional that morning anyway and wasn’t sure why. I found a pew and sat down. Within a few moments I started to hear an inner voice tell me there was something I needed to forgive. It was an issue I had for a number of years with someone close. Even though we still communicated with each other now and again there was an invisible barrier between us which needed to be cleared.
My first rational reaction to this message was “how can I connect with them here -they’re in a different country?”
Then a thought entered my head – I could write them a letter. So I took out a pad and pen and I began to write. I knew I had to be totally honest with what I wrote, explaining what I thought about the issues that had gone before while at the same time casting no blame. In this sacred tomb in Assisi, I opened my heart completely and what I needed to write just flowed. Now it was time to go beyond the ego’s agenda of having to be right to the Spirits agenda of forgiveness and unconditional love.
After writing for over an hour, a priest entered the tomb and began to say mass. I took this as a sign I had written enough. I also knew because I felt “free”, free from the invisible barrier between myself and the other person. I felt deeply peaceful. I felt absolutely wonderful  in fact.
On leaving the tomb the sun was shining so brightly all around Assisi. I found a small wall to sit and be. As I sat and eat a banana, I was surrounded by birds whom I shared some food with. It was an experience of total inner peace, total bliss.
That night, I was asked to lead a parade around Assisi. As I did more and more people joined the parade until we were in a big open square. And as synchronicity would have it there happened to be a stage in the square. So up I got and started to perform for the gathering crowd.
It was almost surreal. It reminded me of the vision I had drawn on my A4 page a few years before. The square began to fill up more and more until there were a few thousand people dancing to the music of the bagpipes. Not only that, another young man got up with what looked very much like a bodhran (see picture below), just like the one I had drawn on my vision. Many others got up on the stage too including a Franciscan priest who danced his heart away. Â The whole celebration went on for about two hours. It was pure magic!
On my way home I spoke to one of the people in our group and I told her, “that was a dream come true for me and you know no matter if it ever happens again I will never believe that dreams can’t come true – this one did!”
Would you like to experience the magic of Assisi? Would you like more inner peace in your life? Would you like to connect with other positive and inspiring people who are going to Assisi for a week in October 2011? Just email me and I’ll send you details – sean@seanmkelly.com
The trip will conincide with the gathering of the worlds religions for peace on 27th October. We will spend the week connecting with like minded people, doing some gentle yoga, meditation, visiting sacred sites, music, story telling and simply celebrating life itself. It will be a very memorable journey.
As above if you’d like to know more just email me at sean@seanmkelly.com and I will send you details. Everyone is welcome.
Carpe Diem!
Sean
PS: Also see this blog post – Celebrate World Peace in Assisi October 2011