We suffer and wonder what, after all, is wrong with us. We search for the answer in the eyes of passers-by and sometimes end up reaching a rather ordinary conclusion: that we are inadequate, unworthy, broken beings. If things were otherwise, our lives would have been illuminated by entirely different colours long ago.

Finding your place in the world — a phrase that kept appearing before my eyes, time and time again, yet I could not grasp its true meaning.

What does it actually mean? What could it possibly imply?

And you know, it all turned out to be much simpler than it might seem at first glance, despite the fact that it took me a very, very long time to realise it.

Once, while talking to a close friend, he said to me with a little wink:

“Ah, Kristina, the simplest things are often the hardest to integrate and put into practice.”

He was absolutely right.
We tend to complicate things, to search for some special formulas, when all along everything was right there, in plain sight, just before our very eyes.

But before I could get there, I had to play roles that were foreign to my soul, wear clothes that were narrow and tight, and put on all sorts of masks — all in an attempt to be accepted by society, friends, relatives and, of course, by my own ego, convinced that it was the fortunate possessor of the recipe for true well-being.

Living in the material world, we tend to listen more closely to the mind, which is calibrated from childhood by society, education and parents. We adopt an enormous number of “settings”, absorbing like sponges everything we hear and see around us, until we almost completely lose touch with our true voice. I call it the voice of the soul.

And so, sooner or later, we begin to feel uncomfortable in the world we have created ourselves. Perhaps it happens all at once, perhaps gradually, but a profound feeling of alienation, suffering and sadness eventually takes hold.

Many people say that this is normal, that this is simply how life is, or just a phase we are going through. But time passes, nothing changes within, and a person eventually becomes completely lost in the labyrinth of masks and ideas that, as it turns out, do not really suit them.

The only solution is to return to the source, to the seed, to oneself.
A reset.

***

Finding your place means freeing yourself, much like peeling an onion, from all the foreign layers we have put on, each for our own personal reasons, whether for protection or out of a desire to fit in.

These layers cannot be torn away all at once, because this is an extremely delicate and tender process.

What we have worn for decades has literally become fused with our bodies and our entire inner structure. That is why we must approach this process gently, with love, without judgement or self-reproach for having spent all this time trying to be anyone and everyone, except ourselves.

Do not rush to blame yourself or cast stones. All of this is valuable experience, even if it taught us through the opposite.

For me, as for many others (if not everyone), this experience helped me understand what I do NOT like and who I do NOT agree to be.

And, of course, everyone has their own threshold. Some will somehow manage to live this way for their entire lives. Others will experience the deepest burnout halfway through their journey. For some, just a few months, or even days, will be enough.

Whatever the case may be, if you are reading these lines right now, it is quite possible that you have reached your own “limit” and are trying to understand what is happening and where to go from here.

***

The world is our reflection. Perhaps you have heard this before. And here lies the most important part — something obvious to some, yet fantastical, almost unimaginable to others.
But this is precisely how things are.

The truth is that, whether we are aware of it or not, every human being is the creator of their own life, their own reality. The only question is whether they create it consciously or not.

The world makes no distinction. It will reflect all our deepest beliefs, thoughts and feelings. You can make it your friend or your enemy: the choice is yours.

“As above, so below,” as written in the Emerald Tablet. So, believe it or not, it will still work.

Imagine yourself standing before a mirror. Imagine that this mirror is the world itself.
It is neither good nor bad. By its very nature, it is neutral: its function is to reflect whatever stands before it. As you know, this cannot be changed.

The people in our lives, situations and circumstances, our work… all of these reflect our inner beliefs, ideas and feelings back to us. They cannot be “the wrong ones”. They simply correspond to what? Exactly. To our own reflection.

They teach us. Let us thank them for that. And besides, how could we not love our own reflection? Without it, none of this would make any sense. How would we ever realise that something was not right? How would we see what we carry within ourselves?

Remove the mirror and you will lose every point of reference. Accept it, and you will find freedom. For there will no longer be any difference.

Remember? As above, so below. Or, in our own words: as within, so without.

When we come to realise that the world is us, and we are the world, true co-creation begins. The struggle disappears. And who, after all, would we be fighting against? Ourselves?
I think you have grasped the essence.

***

Finding your place in the world means revealing the pure resonance of your individuality: its colour, its shade, the timbre of your voice, its sound, rhythm, movement and gesture. All of this is unique in every one of us.

Only when we tune into our own music can we truly immerse ourselves in our essence, in its uniqueness, its nuances, forms and tonalities.

I like to draw a parallel with music. Just as every composition and every musical instrument has its own character, we each have our own way of “sounding”. And if you wish to create something that is truly your own, dive deep within yourself and discover what is true.

The world needs your pure sound, YOURS. Only then can it be truly captivating.

For everything that is sincere and genuine is immediately perceived by the space around us and by others. Everything created through imitation and doubt sounds false and never lasts.

Falsehood eventually comes to an end, even if it served as an experience along the way. Truth alone flourishes, unfolding upwards like an ever-expanding spiral.

Only the purest and most sincere stories leave eternal traces in our hearts.

And there is no need to worry about what others will think.
Who really cares?
Everyone will always have their own interpretation of you or of what you do, whatever it may be.
So what difference does it make?

Making your own happiness your highest priority — that is what truly matters. And many have already realised that happiness does not lie in material possessions. Sooner or later, clothes that belong to someone else begin to feel tight. They simply do not fit us.

Finding your place in this world means embracing your individuality, releasing your own strength and allowing yourself to be who you are, rather than who your surroundings find convenient. It means letting your own voice be heard and, in doing so, creating your own unique reflection in the world.

Meeting yourself for the very first time. Allowing yourself to be alive, crazy, loud — it does not matter. What matters is being yourself.

Do not wait until the end of your life, or until the next epilogue of yet another play performed for the eyes of others, to discover who you are and why you came here.
Begin now.
Now is the right time, because it is all we have. This is our greatest gift — now.

And then, by taking the place that is rightfully yours, you will touch the most delicate strings of this world with your pure resonance and find yourself exactly where you have always had the right to be by virtue of your birth.

This happened to me. It has happened to many others. And perhaps, soon, it will happen to you too, reading these lines.

And this is indeed true.