Hanna Maria in the Cape Town Mountains. Foto by: Gavin Sher

Author: Hanna Maria

About Me – Hanna Maria

Loving Life! Loving Myself?

 

Who am I?

I love this question. The more I know the answer, the better a compass I have to know where I am headed. Who I am reveals to me how I want to spend my time here. It tells me about my passions, my gifts to share and my talents to hone. It speaks to me about my needs, my boundaries and teaches me how best to be with myself and others.

So, who am I?

I will always continue to explore this question, but here is what I have found so far:

I am someone who arrived on earth with an innate and deeply embodied Knowing of the whole ‘interconnectedness thing’ — that all Life on Earth is inextricably interconnected and that the well-being of every being depends on the well-being of everything else on this earth. In my being, heart, soul and bones, I always knew and saw this so clearly! And it has always touched my heart more than words can describe … Being deeply in love with Life on Earth and its divinity and beauty. That is a really big part of who I am.

As a young kid, I realized that the adults around me and the politicians they spoke about and voted for, did not see and feel what I did: Ultimately, the well-being of the earth and all life on it will always affect my own well-being — physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. And that will always affect how cool, or not, the ride through one’s life will be.

Through embodying this interconnectedness thing so deeply, I naturally feel a lot of compassion and love.

A big part of my being and the gift I bring is me feeling the world, people and my own emotions deeply. ‘Porous’ is a word that comes to mind when describing how it feels to be in this world. It has always been that all life here, people, the moment, etc. truly penetrates me, penetrates my being.

I am full of passion, compassion and love — a sense of what others are feeling too. Very aware of my surroundings, spaces, people, emotions, energies, … I am one of those people who are receptive to life around them. It enters me, it informs me, it touches me, it moves me. At times, this can become a ‘cocktail’ of almost too much knowing or information in any given moment — of where people are at, of the emotional depths and energetic impact of what is occurring. I feel it all, the cause and effect of everything and the ripples moving through the tapestry of our shared reality, in each moment. Rich and beautiful.

I have always been in love with the outdoors, with the natural world, with Creation, the Earth. Tears can fill my eyes when her beauty fills my heart — that indescribable divine wildness of nature. In my childhood I spent a lot of time outdoors, mostly alone, feeling happy, safe, held, seen and ‘at home’ there. As much as I love and need to be with people, hanging with trees, rivers, clouds, meadows, … has always felt safer.

The well-being of all Life on Earth is really close to my heart and both my businesses — Embodied Connection and Simply Well Written — are aligned with my dream that humanity awakens to the fact that all Life on Earth is sacred, precious and inextricably interconnected, and that we align our economy, our beings and doings accordingly.

One of my businesses, Embodied Connection, was born from my passion for body presence and being in nature. It facilitates the deepening of our innate connection to our bodies and hearts, to the earth underneath us and to God (Great Spirit, Source…). I believe that if we live and deepen the connections to self and to our environment, from a place of love, we can heal what needs healing and can be a truly positive influence here.

I am also a passionate writer. I have always loved to write and used it as a form of process, expression and creativity. My other business, Simply Well Written, is a writing agency that offers content for businesses, organisations, projects, etc. that are aligned with that same dream of us living with care, compassion and good intentions and we work with those playing their part to bring forth more consciousness.

Who am I?

It seems to me that who we are is one and the same with what we are passionate about, that which we love dearly.
So, what else do I love?

I love ‘hanging out’ in the body, in many forms. Dance, movement, yoga, partner flow, contact improvisation, movement meditation, … Meeting the landscape of my body deeply, filling it out with my awareness while having fun doing whatever it is I am engaged in.

I love music, making music, playing different instruments, … being in the flow of creating/ creation. I love making pottery, nature art, or creating with body and movement in space. I love to sing, sit around a fire, share meals, make love, grow veggies, be quiet and let the moment touch me.
I love truth, openness, honesty, connection, co-creation, authenticity and the magic that happens every time I remember to notice my breath — presence.

It’s a fascinating journey here, in a body, on earth with a whole lot of other people and beings around … on a ride through the universe, for no particular reason but that of being alive.

I love life. I care deeply. I love deeply. I lose my heart to the world, with great pleasure. I dare to be broken open, by beauty, darkness, love and truth. I love to love others. And I had a hell of a ride learning how the f#ck to love myself …! Wading through the painful darkness of self-hate, self-abuse, addiction, self-denial. Being well out the other side feels more and more expansive, full of possibility, rooted more and more in my own empowerment.

And wow, did I learn a lot from this journey …!

One of the things was the understanding that if I am in love with Life and Creation (which I have always been), I myself cannot be excluded from this love, as I am always a part of it all, a part of divine Creation.

I have found that the path of deep love is how we learn a lot and that it takes a lot of courage.
Loving parts of myself I thought I can’t even look at.
Loving doing the dishes when I thought I cannot.
Loving people that bring friction.
Loving what is. Loving myself, as I am, right now.

This article is also available on medium.com