Seeing Your
Light
Rediscover what gives you vitality and joy
Pamela Moss, PhD.
Inner Vision Portraits
© Pamela Moss 2007
Inner Vision Portraits http://www.innervisionportraits.com/
About Seeing Your Light
This handbook takes you on an exploration of who you are at
heart. It is designed to help you see your
own light.
It is based on the first part of a very
special conversation I have with my
portraits clients. I call this powerful
conversation the Heart of the Matter
Interview.
In it we explore:
v what gives you vitality and joy in life (your “light”);
v the unclaimed gifts and strengths you’ve gotten from your
struggles (hidden in your “shadow”);
v and what it’s all in service of (your “heart purpose”).
It is because of this fun, revealing, and often moving
conversation that I am able to paint people all over the world as
they truly are at heart.
This handbook guides you in a conversation
with yourself about what gives you vitality
and joy. If you thoughtfully answer the
questions, you will rediscover what “lights
you up”— now, in the past, and always.
Your light reveals who you’re capable of
being.
Later I’ll show you how to keep your light always before you,
and how to use it as a powerful and liberating guide for growth
and development.
I recommend you print this 13 page handbook out
and answer the questions on your printout, or else
use a notebook or paper for your answers.
Inner Vision Portraits http://www.innervisionportraits.com/
What Lights You Up?
At peak moments of your life,
or in a personal growth class, or maybe
in a quiet moment, you glimpse it:
the powerful, serene, amazing person
you can be.
But the glimpse soon fades, and you’re caught up again in the
worries, constraints, and dramas of daily life.
The following exercise is designed to help
you see what energizes and grounds you
during those peak moments.
You will find that what “lights you up” is a reliable
guide to how you can connect with your personal source of
power, freedom, and joy.
So let’s start exploring!
Getting ready
Find a quiet place to do this exercise where you will not
be disturbed. You will need something to write with, this
handbook, and 30 to 45 minutes of undisturbed time.
Remove all distractions -- turn off your phone and email,
and remove clutter from your desk or work area. This will be a
special time for you to look inward.
I suggest you read the directions on the top of the next
page once silently, and then again aloud (this will help you
remember them) before following them.
Inner Vision Portraits http://www.innervisionportraits.com/
Directions
Before you begin this
exercise, take a moment to bring
your attention fully to the present
moment. Close your eyes. How
are you feeling? What’s going on
in your body? What thoughts are
moving through your brain?
Notice it all without judgment.
Now take some slow, deep breaths, and let everything go.
Allow yourself to just be here now. When you’re ready, open
your eyes and begin the questions.
The questions
1. Think of something you love doing for its own sake – it
doesn’t matter if it seems insignificant – just something you
love to do. Write it down. (Have several? Pick one to focus
on.)
Example: I love to dance.
2. Why do you love it? How do you feel when you’re doing
it? What is it like? Explain as fully as you can.
Example: I feel really free, like I can move however I want to and
it’s all good. My body feels strong, graceful, sexy. I’m fully alive.
And I love how close I feel to my dancing partners – tender,
sensual, playful, and deep, without any words.
Inner Vision Portraits http://www.innervisionportraits.com/
3. What are you aware of when doing it or experiencing it?
How are you aware of this?
Example: I’m enjoying the feeling of movement and the people I’m
dancing with. I feel very connected to them, even ones I don’t
know. I’m aware of this because I don’t shy away from eye contact,
in fact seek it -- I’m comfortable with myself and open to all.
4. How are you being when you do or experience this? (For
instance, are you being focused, energetic, quiet, joyful,
connected, free, peaceful, playful...?)
Example: I’m being free, joyful, and connected –– to others, to my
body, to the pleasure of expressing myself through movement, to
the joy of being alive.
5. Now look at a time you felt really great and were “in the
zone” (not thinking much about yourself, just caught up in
the flow of the moment).
Example: I’ve felt this way while painting.
Inner Vision Portraits http://www.innervisionportraits.com/
6. Where were you when you were “in the zone? What were
you doing? What did you notice?
Example: Working on a “possibility portrait” in my studio at home.
Sometimes I get this feeling when a sketch is coming together, or
when I’m applying layers of color and a face or scene comes to life.
I lose track of time and don’t notice if I’m hungry or my foot is
going to sleep. I even forget where I am. I’m often surprised
afterwards (honestly, rather amazed) to see what’s been created.
7. Were you alone or with others? If with others, what role
did they play in the experience?
Example: I was by myself. And I didn’t want to be disturbed.
8. How were you feeling? (Were you happy, fulfilled, excited,
calm, powerful, centered, focused, connected...?)
Example: Both highly energized and calm. Intensely focused on
what I was doing.
Inner Vision Portraits http://www.innervisionportraits.com/
9. What were you aware of during this experience?
Example: I feel connected to Spirit, as if it flows through me while
I’m painting and I’m just a tool, doing something I couldn’t do by
myself. I’m also holding in mind many things at once: my overall
vision for the painting, all the tiny details, the person I’m painting,
technical challenges.... but it’s not overwhelming.
What to do next is always clear.
10. How is your normal experience of life left behind or
transformed when you do this thing you love, or when you’re
“in the zone”?
Example: I’m not in my head. I’m free from my usual self-criticism,
ambition, comparisons and strategizing. I’m not trying to impress
anyone or get them to like me – it’s not about me at all.
When I’m dancing, it’s about the joy of being in my body and
connecting with others. And when I’m painting, I’m focused on
expressing the sacred in another. Often I’m deeply moved by the
people I’m painting, especially while I work on their faces. I’m
moved by the people I dance with, too. In both cases, I feel in
touch with my love for people -- so much that the intensity of the
feeling can be embarrassing.
Inner Vision Portraits http://www.innervisionportraits.com/
11. Do you experience it inside? Where? What does it feel
like?
Example: If I think about it, I feel it as a warmth in my chest, and
a relaxing of the muscles in my face, especially my jaw. It feels like
I’m relaxing back into supportive arms, being carried along. Like a
young child?
12. Is it an experience of fulfillment or “flow”? How?
Example: Yes! Time stops and I am carried along, in the flow of the
moment, inspired. When I’m dancing, I don’t have to think how to
move, it just comes. The same when I’m painting a “possibility
portrait.” Spirit flows through me. I feel connected to what
matters most –– it’s deeply fulfilling.
13. Is it something that “comes naturally,” or something you
work at?
Example: Hmmm... I don’t work at it, so I guess it comes naturally.
It is often an experience of ease and freedom.
Inner Vision Portraits http://www.innervisionportraits.com/
14. Is there a visual image, or tactile experience, or sound
that comes to mind? What does it remind you of?
Example: Let’s see. Sometimes with both painting and dancing I
hear music. I might hum it or sing it out loud. If I’m dancing, I may
harmonize with the music that’s playing. The singing is very free
and improvisational. Doing this reminds me of praying or
meditating, for some reason...
Identifying the light in your answers
Look back over what you’ve written. Are
there repeated words, perhaps in different
forms? Or concepts that seem related
somehow?
Circle them.
Examples:
1) “connected,” “connection,” “in touch with,” “close”
2) “free,” “liberated” “open,” “relaxed,” “improvisational”
3) “movement,” “move,” “moved,” “flows,” “carried along”
Are there other words in what you’ve written that seem
resonant or significant to you? Circle them.
Inner Vision Portraits http://www.innervisionportraits.com/
Are there any words that seem to be missing? Or words that
express what you long to be? Write them here and circle them:
Now look through all your circled words. Make a list of them
here:
Go through your list and pick the 3-5 words that most speak
to you. How would you express them as nouns?
(For you English majors and philosophers: we’re using abstract
nouns, rather than adjectives, because these are not personal
descriptions of you so much as universal qualities that you can
make available to yourself and others.)
Write them here:
Examples: 1) “connected” “connection,” “in touch with,” “close” could
all become “CONNECTION”
2) “free,” “open,” “relaxed,” “improvisational” could be “FREEDOM,”
“OPENNESS,” or “SPONTANEITY”
Inner Vision Portraits http://www.innervisionportraits.com/
So what does it all mean?
The 3 to 5 abstract
nouns you’ve come up with
point to the qualities of what
you could call your Divine Self.
This is the light in you that
wants to shine. It is who you
authentically are, the unique way that you alone express universal
truth, love, and beauty.
Awareness of it comes and goes in your life, but when
you’re in the presence of it, you know.
"In the final analysis, we count for
something only because of the essential we
embody, and if we do not embody that, life
is wasted."
-- C.G. Jung
This light is always available to you, no matter what your
life situation is. It may be brighter or dimmer, but whenever you
embody its qualities -- even for a moment – you experience
yourself as joyously alive and powerfully present.
What’s more, when you express these qualities and share
your light with others, they are moved and inspired. New
possibilities appear, and your ordinary experience of life is
transformed.
Your light is already part of you, though
perhaps deeply buried and forgotten, like
smoldering magma at the core of a
dormant volcano.
It’s time now to let it rise up and shine!
Inner Vision Portraits http://www.innervisionportraits.com/
You can claim your light right now simply by
writing, and then saying aloud
“At heart I am ______________________.”
(the 3 to 5 qualities from your list)
Example: “At heart I am Connection, Freedom, and Joy.”
Write your sentence here:
Say the sentence aloud several times, slowly, so you
really get it. See how it feels to declare that this is who you
authentically are. (However it feels is fine, and just right for this
moment.)
Ask yourself: are these in fact the qualities that I bring
to myself, and others, when I am in touch with what I love?
If there is anything you want to change or add, do so.
Inner Vision Portraits http://www.innervisionportraits.com/
What you’ve written of is the light at the heart of
who you are.
Don’t worry if your understanding of
your light is still somewhat vague.
Now that you’ve distinguished it, it
will get clearer and clearer.
You can use your light to:
v energize and inspire yourself daily
v clarify what matters most
v bring new authenticity and joy to every
area of your life
v move toward your dreams
You can find out how to do this – and have fun
at the same time! – with my Collage Your
Light Workshop-in-a-Box.
http://www.innervisionportraits.com/collage-
your-light-workshop-in-a-box
I love to hear from you. If you have questions about
this handbook or want to share your experience of using it
or what you discovered, please drop me a line at
Pamela@innervisionportraits.com, or call me at
(607) 277-5817.
May your light shine brightly,
Pamela
“In the faces of men and women I see God.”
~ Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass
