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Writer's pictureMaria Vandenburg

Reflections and Gifts from 2021

Updated: May 21, 2023

In honor of the Winter Solstice, I spent some time in reflection on everything this past year has had to offer. I wanted to take a minute and share ten things I am grateful to take away from this incredibly powerful and potent year.




1. The Power in SLOWING DOWN

I have been such an avid "do-er" 99.99% of my life. I really did not realize just how busy I am/have always been. Literally, for as long as I can remember, I have always had something going on. Moving through my "incubation period" - which you can read more about here. I was basically forced to slow down, to stop, to pause, to rest. While my personal circumstances meant I didn't feel physically capable of doing anything else, what I realized coming out of it is how necessary slowing down is for my own mental, physical and emotional wellbeing. It's like food for the soul which I have been starving myself from almost all of my life.


2. A Deepening Sense of my own Self-Awareness

I have grown so much this past year, I realized that my third eye is actually open (that's a pretty funny story, I was expecting Arch-Angels to appear and a loud booming voice to congratulate me while I teleported to another planet... I realized that it's WAY more subtle than that). The fact that I can recognize signs and synchroncities, pick up on other people's energies, tune in deeply to the vibration of the music/sounds around me, etc... is a result of the fact that my I am "seeing" - more accurately said "feeling" things from the perception of my third eye. Now that I aware of this, I only anticipate my perception expanding for the rest of this lifetime, and beyond. Pretty freaking magical if I do say so myself.


3. What Unity Consciousness Means

We say all the time "We are All One." I didn't really understand what that meant until this year. It's easy to believe we are one when we resonate and relate to whatever it is we are thinking about/tuning our energy and attention to. Unity consciousness is that.... BUT it is also learning to see ourselves in the opposite, learning to love "the Other." To me, this means opening ourselves up to being loving and compassionate towards things we had previously judged to be outside of ourselves. It's an easy thing to say... NOT SO MUCH and easy thing to do. It feels, however, the direction that we are headed in. What do I mean by this? I mean that the next time that someone really pisses you off or gets under your skin, instead of lashing out and creating more distance between you and whatever pissed you off, it's taking a moment to pause and consider if there is anyway you can come to see the world through their eyes.


4. The Release that Comes from Honoring Exactly how I am Feeling

This was my biggest takeaway from my incubation period and honestly what I think really did allow me to emerge from it all. I recorded a whole podcast on it that can be found here:


5. Understanding what Unconditional Love Is

This came from my time in Sedona and the words of Sunny Dawn Johnston. I had always thought I unconditionally loved myself and others, but I realized I did not. What do I mean by that? I mean that to me, unconditional love means a genuine state of love and acceptance to whatever IS. I realized that until the last few months, I only loved myself when I was feeling "good." I was perpetually in a state of judgment when I was in any other emotional state AND unconscious of this fact. So it was a HUGE breakthrough to realize this and to then, in turn, learn how to more deeply love myself.




6. Embracing my Vulnerability and Willingness to be Seen

I remember looking back at myself a year or so ago, I was longing to be "seen" - the problem was, I wasn't actually willing to admit to ANYONE (including myself) exactly how I was feeling. You can't "be seen" - if you aren't willing to be vulnerable. I get that now. Does it still scare the sh*t out of me to truly show up sometimes? (like for example the publication of The Akasha Records: The Royal Heart today on the Winter Solstice). Absolutely! BUT, I also know how powerful and wonderful it can be to be witnessed on a deep level.


7. The Importance of Setting Boundaries

If you would have asked me three years ago what a boundary was, I wouldn't have had the slightest clue. Two years ago, I understood that they existed but I still wasn't willing to actually set any of them. And me now? Well, I still have some work to do in fully being comfortable in saying no, and putting myself first, BUT I'm getting a lot better. I realize that it isn't selfish to do so, it's just that there is a part of me that is still scared of hurting others and/or how it will be received. BUT I am slowly starting to realize how valuable my time, space and energy is and so I am doing what I can to begin to honor it.


8. How Magical this Planet and Nature is

I've always found nature to be beautiful, but similar to number two, I find that my connection to nature is rapidly expanding. Long walks have always been medicine for me, but now I have a conscious understanding of why. I am so excited to deepen into this. Everytime I begin to wrap my head around the beauty and magnitude of Mother Earth it brings tears to my eyes and an overwhelming amount of gratitude for the gift of being able to be here, now.


9. The Power of My Imagination

SO MUCH MORE TO COME ON THIS ONE. Ahem... like an entire book series called the Dark Goddess Series (which I will begin writing in 2022... publication date TBD)


10. The Strength of my Belief

This brings me back to the field of dreams quote: If you Build IT, they will come... although I want to make my own twist on it: "If you believe it, it will happen"

It's been such a massive year for us all. So many challenging things to release, so many shadows we have had to be willing to dive into, and so much more to come.

I love you all, I honor you all, and I am grateful you are a part of my life (even if you aren't.... yet). ❤💖🧡💛💚💙💜



Interested in learning more about my personal journey?






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