You might have heard that this winter, temperatures in Florida have been so low that iguanas have fallen out of trees, seemingly frozen. But did you know the cold weather has affected other animals in the state?
The low temperatures have particularly hurt sea turtles, “freezing” them to the point that they can’t swim or move. Fortunately, rescuers have saved, treated, and released roughly 1,000 affected turtles, helping them in a time when the cold would’ve killed them. Continue reading →
I wrote the following for the 271st issue of the Weekly Awareness Guide, a written document distributed weekly via email that I offer for $11.11 a month. This is a preview of the article that appears in the guide.
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As spiritual seekers, sometimes we lose our way. It becomes harder to find the light, and we become insecure about the unique ideas that used to fuel us. The inspiration that was once available in abundance becomes scarce as we find that we just aren’t as passionate about life as we used to be. Continue reading →
There are a lot of things happening on our planet you wouldn’t really think are funny, but that doesn’t mean we can’t laugh about them. Laughter helps us cope with the chaos, and being willing to joke about sensitive issues can make them easier to discuss collectively. Laughter is a universal language that can bring people together in even the most divisive circumstances.
If we’re going to resist the handful of corporate elites making decisions that hurt us all and devastate the planet we live on, we might as well keep a sense of humor about it. This is exactly what anti-fracking activists did in Washington, at an encampment they built over train tracks on which fracking materials are transported. Continue reading →
The Openhearted Rebel blog is in need of financial help, as we’re low on funds this month and require reader support to keep the blog going. If you’d like to support us, consider a donation or subscription to the Weekly Awareness Guide.
I wrote the following for the 263rd issue of the Weekly Awareness Guide, a written document distributed weekly via email that I offer for $11.11 a month.
Income from the guide helps me get by and ensures I can continue to offer free content, and every subscription is appreciated. The option to subscribe is given at the bottom of this post (learn about subscribing with cash/check here).
Spiritual awakening is the greatest gift you can receive, as it makes you aware you are a multidimensional being with a foot in all worlds. It helps you to see that the world is far more surreal than we like to think. Spiritual awakening is a treasure not to be discarded or misused, but cherished.
To “wake up” isn’t enough on its own, however. Once we’re awake, it’s up to us to do something with it. The universe doesn’t hand out enlightenment; we must pursue it and any opportunity for evolution our awakening provides.
We must do something with the gift we’ve been given.
The first question, then, is what to do with your awakening. Do you want to dive headfirst into the pursuit of a higher consciousness, or do you want to use what you’ve learned so far to help others? You could choose to forget about your awakening altogether, but why discard something so valuable?
You’re better off choosing one of the other options. Personally, I choose both.
I use writing to share what I’ve learned with those walking a similar path, and I use music and meditation to grow closer with the inner spirit. Writing also brings me closer to this part of myself, serving the dual purpose of expanding my mind while helping me to help you.
Although writing is undoubtedly a stern mental discipline, it feels good once you get the hang of it and the words start to flow.
Once awake, you can use writing, music, meditation, and plenty of other similar activities to become more aware while helping others do the same. With writing, you can research and share what others have said about the spiritual path or you can go straight to the source: your own mind, heart, and intuition.
The same can be said for if you pursue music, as creativity comes from the heart. The mind certainly has its role to play, but the heart lays the foundation.
In my opinion, the greatest thing you can do with your spiritual awakening is to return to the heart. Let your awakening redefine love as you know it. Awakening makes you aware of love and the importance of sharing it with a world that doesn’t know what it truly is.
Let the heart take center stage in your life. Share love with all, and let your love inspire compassion. After an awakening, your heart will break when you see how many people are suffering across the world. Don’t fear a broken heart. Let it fuel you to change what you cannot tolerate.
War, famine, and poverty are unacceptable. Tyrannical governments and dictatorships controlling, watching, and killing their own citizens is unacceptable. The suffering of the innocent angers and saddens the heart. In this way, you can see compassion as a source of power. Use it, and use it wisely.
One aspect of spiritual awakening people avoid is that it leads you to embrace what makes you uncomfortable. It led me to start exercising, for example, and to become a writer in this community. Despite that these things make me uncomfortable, they’re important to the path I’ve chosen.
My awakening has blessed me with a clear understanding of why I’m here and why I should pursue the path ahead of me. This doesn’t mean it’s always comfortable or I’m always satisfied, but it’s worth all the trouble.
Whether you want it to or not, spiritual awakening will take you out of your comfort zone. It will lead you to things you never thought you’d be comfortable with, like meditation or creative work in service to humanity.
Whether you cross that threshold willingly or unwillingly is up to you. But if you stick with your path after awakening, you will cross it.
Spiritual awakening is a gift, a blessing, and a pain. It’s not all sunshine and flowers, but if you can get past the hardest obstacles on your path, there will be plenty of sunshine to come.
Embrace all aspects of your awakening – especially what forces you to leave your comfort zone – and you’ll quickly go from awake to transformed. To be awake is great, but to transform is to realize the goal of the path on which your awakening sets you.
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I’m a twenty-something writer & blogger with an interest in spirituality, revolution, music and the transformative creative force known as love. I run Openhearted Rebel, a daily news blog dedicated to igniting a revolution of love by raising social and spiritual awareness.
I also have a personal blog, Wes Annac’s Personal Blog, in which I share writings related to spiritual philosophy, creativity, heart consciousness and revolution (among other topics).
I write from the heart and try to share informative and enlightening reading material with the rest of the conscious community. When I’m not writing or exploring nature, I’m usually making music.
Hey everyone, we’re low on funds this month and could really use some support to keep our bills paid and keep the Openhearted Rebel blog going.
If you enjoy the blog and want to help ensure we can keep running it, there are two ways you can do so: by donating, or by subscribing to the Weekly Awareness Guide for $11.11 a month (additional subscription options are available).
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“The people who [are] trying to make this world worse are not taking the day off. Why should I?” – Bob Marley
To say life is hard is an understatement. We’re often hit with unexpected challenges or circumstances that make us want to hide away from the world. But we can’t, and in my opinion, we shouldn’t.
If you pursue a life of purpose, there will come a point when you feel exhausted, discouraged, and ready to give up. The hard work won’t be worth what you seem to get out of it, and you’ll want more than anything to relax, take a big long break, and forget about all the stress. This is understandable, and downtime is necessary if you don’t want to burn out. Continue reading →
By Wes Annac, Editor, 
By Wes Annac, Editor, 
By Wes Annac, Editor, 
Hey everyone, we’re low on funds this month and could really use some support to keep our bills paid and keep the Openhearted Rebel blog going.
By Wes Annac, Editor, 