the path to higher self

Tonight, I sat down to research Signs of Spiritual Awakening. I know I'm going through something, and I'm pretty sure this must be it. If I wasn't going through a change, I wouldn't have started this blog!

As I was researching, I started realizing everyone who has written about spiritual awakening has a completely different idea of what it is. I mean, eventually, they all reach the same goal... loss of ego, feeling of oneness, unconditional love... blah blah blah. However, it seems that the path there is different, and what most writers seem to acknowledge is that its non-linear and messy.

However, some of them do overlap slightly, and that's what I want to touch on here.

• Connection to nature.

Regardless of what/who is guiding you, I have found that most of us can agree that we are all One. There may be variations in some of the details, but there is this idea that we are part of one infinite creator. So, with this knowledge, we find ourselves drawn to nature and feeling a greater appreciation for plants, animals, and other humans. We seek to reduce harm and to love unconditionally. We recognize this idea that there are "good" people and "bad" people, but the "bad" people are products of their negative experiences, and we still love them regardless. 

• Minimalism and purging of material items.

With growth, we rely less on external things to make us happy. Instead, we rely on relationships, experiences, and ourselves for "happiness". (I put happiness in quotations, because I mean something more involved than a traditional definition of happiness). We also seek to clear the clutter from our lives.

• You're no longer "faking" it. 

Most of us are taught from a young age to "be nice". This follows us into adulthood, and rightfully so... being nice is a good thing! However, many times it forces us to either repress our feelings or to indulge in negative behaviors and feelings. Now, we are that "blunt" friend. We will be honest and upfront, without being mean. There is a difference.

• You feel compelled for change.

My entire life, it has been hammered into me that nothing else matters without a career and that I can never depend on anyone else, financially. So all of my actions at least consult the idea of "how will this affect my career?" But through this process, you realize there are more important things. So here I am (and from what I've read, so have others) feeling this urge to want to quit my job and pursue the real matters in life and to make the world a better place (I don't think accountant for an international corporation is making much of an impact). I'm not going lie, though... my ego is getting a bit caught up on this one.

I'm pretty young in this journey, and by young,... I'm probably still a fetus.  I am not trying to teach or guide others, because I'm far from an expert. I do want to share my experiences, though. So I want to know, have you journeyed down the path of spiritual enlightenment? What lessons  have you learned in this life? What are your beliefs, in a nutshell?