Leaving the Culture sphere, we travel across the Pathway of Growth:

The view proposed from the Culture Sphere referred to the concept of Synarchy as a new way of doing business. The focus on serving the whole before anything. The Pathway of Growth is very synchronistic for me in that, considering the Siddhi of my Pearl Sphere is Synarchy (the 44th key). The official course speaks about Synarchy:

“Synarchy needs the elements that make up hierarchy, but without the ego. At its core, synarchy always has the beating heart of a higher ideal, and like the bees that all serve the Queen in the hive, the members of a synarchy all serve the ideal in their own unique way.”

It has been this process of growth on my path…seeking to find the way in which I’m able to serve the whole uniquely, in such a way that it is fulfilling. In such a way that it feels aligned and with purpose. Maybe the biggest work-in-progress point for me, as I haven’t felt like I’ve arrived at this place of clarity to come to the table with. I’m very clear on not looking for money first, nor being driven by it. I’m very clear on the spiritual growth being first. Maybe it has to do with complexity in my lineage, or childhood trauma, but simplicity in life keeps surfacing as a desirable path.

The Codon Ring of Prosperity, containing the 16th key (16.2 in my Design Mercury) and the 45th key, is spoken of in relation to this pathway. The gifts of Versatility and Synergy - how we can utilize our uniqueness as pieces to the puzzle of the whole. Do you see? This is the contemplation.

My Brand Sphere holds 6.3. Gene Key 6 transforms the Shadow of Conflict through the Gift of Diplomacy, into the Siddhi of Peace. Line 3 in the Brand sphere is “Humor (Pleasure)”. This Sphere, when looked at as the Brand rather than the Life’s Work, gives a spin on how one expresses their authenticity in the work they do in the world. Naturally, I do this with humor. :p

The Shadow of the Brand is said to be all about how you see yourself. For me, that would be within the goggles (more fun than glasses) of Conflict. When you attempt to be something that you are not, you are very easily misconstrued. When you also attempt to NOT be something that you ARE, a similar thing happens. As I look back on my life, and what brought me to my focus on authenticity as it is, it was many experiences outside of it. I’ve run the gamut, in 3rd line fashion, of trying to find ways to connect with people in my lifetime - through attempts to impress, imitation (following other’s template’s), trying out roles that weren’t really me (although no one can really be faulted for that, it’s natural to explore), towing company lines when I wasn’t “bought in”, and the old “fake it until you make it” of not feeling ready or believing in myself. I also attempted many times to forgo my own authenticity in avoiding conflict that, in actuality, needed to be addressed - but I just wanted peace and for everyone to be happy. None of these things, when exercised, resulted in me achieving any sense of connection on a level that I could smile about. These were not meant to be manipulative or deceiving routes, but I can very well see how this could be portrayed as such. When you start off with just being yourself and experiencing rejection to connection because of that, it’s logical to start to look for other ways to resolve “the issue”. Furthermore, when rejection via authenticity is experienced, it can exacerbate a fear of the same thing happening when you double-down on authenticity - knowing that being yourself is going to create an initial loss of connections in your life before more resonant ones fill in (without having the knowing that more resonant ones will actually fill in). This is the risk you have to take in this life, though…and especially if you’re a 3rd line.

When we look at the Gift of the Brand, we think about being yourself unapologetically. For me, that is using Diplomacy. To be able to not absorb the triggered emotions of others in the face of my authenticity, yet only express self and response from a place of understanding and balance. I remember years ago when I contemplated deleting my Facebook account because I didn’t use it for anything special nor really see the purpose in it, outside of sharing family pictures with other family and friends that weren’t local, to which I would receive reactions on. Then, as I got deep into my spiritual journey, I started joining groups and making almost purely spiritual posts, to which the reactions on the posts were like crickets - nothing. I wasn’t going to stop being me, expressing how I felt and what was important to me, which was a wide variety of content and sources of growth that the normal audience of mine did not care about. As time went on, some folks would retort with their perspectives in disagreement with me. Being more in alignment with my expression, I thanked for their perspective and held space for it. This holding of space is a staple in diplomacy, to me. Remember that it is always inside-out first…Diplomacy starts with quelling the conflict inside, to be able to be authentic and then do replicate with others. The primary medium for my self-expression became the blog on this website.

The Siddhi of the Brand is what others will recognize in you, even if you may not realize it. I have been fortunate enough to have had many people reflect this to me. My Siddhi here is Peace, and it has been represented in how even-keeled I have appeared to be to others, no matter the adversity or chaos going on. There is no way to express Peace if it is inauthentic; it will be felt as fake. That is why when I do come from a place of Peace in my expression, it is often perplexing and received with awe as well. I’m asked how it’s possible that I can be at a place of Peace given circumstances in my life, and it’s through the internal work and processing that it is possible - which is what I lead by example with.

The link through all of this for me is humor. I have to say that I’m glad that this is in my design and path, because I don’t think I’d want to do life without laughing. In respect to the Brand sphere, the humor is about changing the way people feel about themselves, in a positive way. It isn’t humor as a distraction from life, in the way that people use coping mechanisms like alcohol, drugs, sex, and so on…but rather first-hand experience in the pain and emotions felt in life; and a knowing that, at least internally, things can change for the better, if you allow yourself the opportunities to. Humor, to me, is a way that people can universally find shifts inside of themselves. You may think that it was the person bringing the humor that shifted you, but you were the one who found it funny and responded to what life was giving you in the moment…and whether you’re aware of the shift or not, you made the shift to a more positive place with laughter. Something that feels good, something organic, something that doesn’t numb away the pain. You take the light that’s been inside of you all along, and allow it to penetrate through the walls that the pain has built…and you get to do it with JOY. There is no “coming back down to Earth” like when the high/numb of the alcohol or drugs wears off and you’re just back to the pain as it was…you have shifted into a different perspective internally through laughter. Again, if you so choose.

They say it’s about “changing the way others feel about themselves”…I say it’s about showing by example, a way of self re-igniting the furnace of joy inside and letting it incinerate impurities on the way out.