My awakening happened at around 16 and lasted for a few years. It really wasn’t until I turned 19 that I was able to truly understand that what was happening to me was somewhat “normal”.
When I had my awakening, I knew I couldn’t really talk about it or explain it to anyone. I couldn’t tell people that I was hearing voices or chatting with my Spirit Guides. I couldn’t really tell people how cool Louise Hay and Wayne Dyer’s books were, so I just sort of kept it to myself.
In fact, it was very easy for me to switch off everything at school and be “normal”, but then when I got home it would be my time to delve into all things spiritual.
I lived this way for a while, but eventually it got harder and harder to contain. Eventually, I had to make some physical life changes in order to catch up with what my spirit and body wanted me to do.
I started changing my diet, my lifestyle, my after school hobbies, everything in my physical environment started to change. This was when my friends started to really notice.
One day my friend even commented that I had changed, that I even looked different. Her comment really helped me to know that I wasn’t crazy and that other people were also starting to notice.
Towards the end of high school, I became friends with someone who was also starting to have an awakening. Great, I thought, where was she a few years ago?!
Seeing my friend go through her awakening was eye opening. While I was very earthy and internal through mine, she struggled to remain so. She found it hard to keep her awakening life and her regular life separate, and wanted all of her friends to know what was happening.
Of course, her friends were not able to relate to her, which ended up making her feel alienated and alone. While we had each other of course, she had known her other friends since she was young, and it was difficult for her to not have their support.
Eventually she found it too difficult to hang out with them and she started removing them from her life completely.
This was not a step that I had to take during my awakening. At least, not right away. Looking at her awakening in comparison, mine had been a lot more gentle and internal, whereas hers felt strong and external.
Awakening happens differently for different people. I am a very earthy soul, so perhaps during my awakening it allowed me to remain grounded and connected. Whereas my friend on the other hand, was a very fiery soul, and perhaps it was part of her process to really own and claim her newfound fire.
When it came to letting go of friendships for me, I just sort of let them fizzle out and naturally dwindle down. Friends that I no longer really wanted in my life just sort of melted away. But for her, she had to really state her truth and have everything out on the table.
Even today, I have friends that have no idea what I do or have any understanding of my abilities. I don’t talk about it, they don’t bring it up and yes perhaps it is weird, however when we do hang out I have fun. I have a good laugh. It’s almost like hanging with these people gives me a short break.
The only time I find it draining to be around people who are not open to this stuff is when they are full of drama. But if they are just loving, fun to be around people, to me it doesn’t matter if they understand spirit or not.
I guess the point of this all is to share with you that you don’t have to completely drop all of your friends from your life just because you have had an awakening and they don’t understand.
Sure if the friendship is no longer serving you, by all means go ahead and let it go. But if you are still able to hang out, have fun and laugh then perhaps that is spiritual in its own right.
I think after an awakening there is a tendency to want to feel validated and honored for the “struggle” that you have gone through. Perhaps there is a tendency to want to be recognized for the fact that you can talk to Spirits and access some Divine wisdom. And while this is ok, it may be worth considering that you don’t always have to seek this out in every friend you meet.
At the end of the day, you have to do what is right for you, there is no right or wrong here. But I offer you this- there is a way that you can integrate your spiritual awakening into “regular” life. Yes, it takes practice and some finessing, but it is possible.
In fact, integrating Spirit into this earthly world is part of why you have awakened in the first place!
Of course, not everyone is going to resonate with this and I am sure some people out there are “all or nothing”, but I would be curious to know how many other awakened souls out there have been able to still keep some of their original friendships.
Feel free to share in comments below!
