‘I’ve had an Epiphany.’ I’ve said that on more than one occasion, and I’m pretty sure that you’ve said it too. And today I find myself pondering on just how much I love those little sparks of inspiration, or those rushes of insight that bring in clarity. We’ve all felt that inspiring moment of realisation at one time or another, that powerful insight with the potential to change our world.
"It probably has a million definitions. It's the occurrence when the mind, the body, the heart, and the soul focus together and see an old thing in a new way" - Maya Angelou.
"The goal is to move from just knowledge, which is information, to understanding, which is awareness" - Dr. Oz.
I think ‘Epiphany’ is such a great word!!! So what exactly is an ‘Epiphany’? Well here goes - It’s an intuitive grasp of reality through something (such as an event) usually simple and striking; an illuminating discovery, realisation, disclosure, or insight; a realisation; an opening; a portal to the Divine; growing up; a magic moment that impacts you and changes you forever and you can remember it as vividly as you experienced it; a moment that changes the lens through which you view your life; our soul scratching around our head and giving us a signal to guide our lives with; a moment of descending light, open knowledge, and choice; a drastic shift in energy and change of perspective that happens in the form of a moment of clarity; something that gives you the strength to take a different direction or move forward and opens up everything; a sense of wonderment; a clarifying direction; and, that moment where you know your life is never going to be the same; a revealing scene or moment; or a moment of sudden or great revelation that usually changes you in some way; a miracle of thought.
The word ‘Epiphany’ comes from the Greek epiphaneia, meaning ‘appearance’ or ‘manifestation,’ and refers to the revelations brought to us by the gods. The Day of Epiphany in Christian tradition signifies the 12th day of Christmas and ancient traditions culminated the season with a lavish ‘Feast of Epiphany.’ It’s come to be known as “12th Night” in Great Britain. Shakespeare originally wrote his play, “Twelfth Night, or What You Will,” as part of the entertainment for Twelfth Night, Day of Epiphany celebration, and as Oprah often puts it, ‘I had an aha moment.’
Do Epiphanies have to be huge? I feel like the word ‘Epiphany’ should always be written with a capital ‘E’ because to me Epiphanies are BIG, but whether they’re large or small, Epiphanies do have the power to feed creativity, particularly when we follow them, court them, nurture them, build relationships with them, and introduce them to others so that they too can flourish and become something beyond themselves. A light switch flicks on, we have that moment of realisation that hits home in a way it never has before. It’s enlightening, and it can be very life changing, and it’s what we do with these Epiphanies - these awakenings - that matters the most of all! The ‘doing’ will look differently for everyone. Sometimes the doing is not actually in ‘doing’ anything at all, but in ‘being’ the Epiphany. Living the realisation, one day, one hour, one moment, one second at a time.
I don’t like ‘identities’, and I try not to ‘identify’ with, or put ‘labels’ on anything, however I do resonate with the theory of ‘HSP’s’ (highly sensitive persons), and therefore find writing about my own personal experiences not exactly the most lightest and breeziest of processes. It’s hard enough for me to introduce myself when I’m out and about, let alone spilling my private life stories and personal battles out into the world. A glitch in my system that I am currently working on and correcting and improving each day. The struggle can be in the fear of judgement from others, or heaven forbid I upset someone with my words. What if someone I know reads this? What if I sound pathetic and boring? Why not just save up all our stories and take them with us to the grave and beyond? The problem with that is that it’s our stories that contain our Epiphanies. Epiphanies aren’t just ‘aha’ moments, realising you… They’re bigger than that.
Regardless of where our Epiphanies came from, they are the moments that connect us with something much bigger than ourselves. It is in these moments that universal truths are revealed, and even though the way they came to us may be unique and individual to us, the wisdom we gain always boils down to a truth many others can more often than not relate to.
Why bother sharing your epiphanies, why go through the pain and heart ache of having to re-visit what may have been an unpleasant moment in time for you? Because it has been my experience that there is no better way to connect with others than through the sharing of your own personal truths is why; your revelations, even though they might hurt a bit on their way out. Sharing of ones own personal experiences not only helps you going through your own tough times, but more importantly, helps others experiencing the very same thing. I think of the possibilities of there being one person out there breathing a sigh of relief at hearing of my journey and saying, ‘I am not alone. If she can do it, so can I.’
Once you pull off the band aid of the sharing of your own personal experiences and revelations, your moments of epiphanies, everything after that will feel like an 'easy-peasy' walk in the park. From there, you are the one who will breathe a sigh of relief. It’s out. The burden that you’ve been carrying all this time has lifted.
Your very own Epiphany moment - might just be the one that causes a transformational chain reaction in others who get to hear about it. Share ‘YOUR’ story with others, your story deserves to be heard, YOU deserve to be heard x
