Each of us in our deepest heart longs for connection, yet this longing often competes with a belief and fear that we’re ultimately alone—a fundamental feature of the human condition. The longing we experience exists, however, only because the connection also exists, and so this longing can be met and satisfied. Ultimately, we’re longing for capital-h Home, which is called by many names: Source Energy, Brahman, the Divine, First Cause, Ground of Being, God.

Authentic Self is what most of us call the Higher or Greater Self, and what Amy Pierce calls the “Universal Child of Consciousness.” This self has never left Home; it experiences itself simultaneously as oneness as well as in the duality that characterizes life on the Earth plane. By believing in the duality, or separateness, we become fearful; through our unexamined fear and the choices we make based on it, we create suffering for ourselves and others.

Living authentically is not necessarily the same as living from Authentic Self. For example, one may be the best and most fulfilled gardener on the planet, feeling he or she is living an authentic life by making use of gifts and talents — yet, may be doing so while also abusing one’s children. This would be living as authentically as possible given one’s level of unhealed personal pain and suffering, but it would not be living from Authentic Self. To live from Authentic Self, though, is most assuredly living authentically. Your personality self is one of many aspects (in form) of your Greater Self, or Highest Self, with which most of Earth’s children are not yet in conscious contact. Though the personality self can believe it is living an authentic life – and it can be – most of the time it is not living from the Heart of the Highest Self.

Amy has developed a process of seven steps for embodying this Authentic Self into our worldly lives. In this evening of words and music, she will share her process, accompanying each step with
music selected to set the stage and to inform the accompanying aspect, or step, as well as to help cement that aspect within us. Step One is to assume that the ground of being—the “I am that I am”—is a literal oneness from which we cannot be separated, both containing
and infusing all that is. Step Seven is consistently to honor Spirit and
to respect the spirit, mind, body, and emotions of ourselves and others, taking what direct responsibility we can for creating a loving world in service to oneness and to the One we all are. These two steps comprise a container for the other intermediate five, each of
which involves a commitment and dedication to quite specific education, healing work, and applied practice, which Amy will share with us.

By the end of the evening, we can expect to have a more open heart and a clearer understanding of the Authentic Self and some ways to embody it; what it is and isn’t; why it matters; expanded
understanding of forgiveness and responsibility; and what your life—
and our lives together—may look like when our personalities and our
Authentic Selves are merged.

Amy Pierce is an ordained Minister in Integrative Healing and a teacher of Consciousness Evolution. She has a Master’s degree in Applied Healing Arts from Tai Sophia Institute. She offers a holistic and ecumenical approach to spirit-mind-body healing; teaches and
writes about Authentic Self; and works with individuals, couples, and children through her spiritual counseling ministries, Authentic Self spiritual counseling, AirGiving for Caregiving, and Sophie’s Gift animal loss support.

In 2008, Amy developed a teaching series called “Conversations
About Authentic Self,” a series of five topics discussed in seven
conversations. The material created for the series is being turned into a book.

Amy will give us a lyric sheet for the music she’s using, a list of all the seven steps, and a recommended reading list for further study. To learn more about Amy and her work, visit her website, www.AuthenticSelf.us.