What Has Your Soul Written On Your Heart?

In this episode, I share the wild story of how my loft (the last place I lived) came into my life, how it shaped the last nine years of my work, and what happened when I finally committed to the path my soul had been whispering to me all along.

I hope this story helps you remember what Paulo Coelho (author of The Alchemist) would call your own personal legend. The dream written on your heart. The door is waiting for your courage. The quiet truth: when you really commit to the path that is yours, the Universe begins to meet you there.

Writing Prompt:
Choose an era of your life that feels complete, or nearly complete.

Take some time to honour what happened there.

What did this era give you? Teach you? What did it ask of you? Awaken in you?

Then gently ask: What wisdom am I meant to carry forward? What am I ready to leave behind? What dream is still written on my heart?

You don’t need to force a perfect answer. Just listen for the thing that still feels alive.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to the Artist Morning Podcast. My name is Darius, And I'm so grateful you and I get this time together. Today's podcast episode is going to be a little different. I'm going to share a story as always. There's going to be a lesson within the story that's going to take us to part two, Our guided meditation experience intended to bring the lesson deeper, Deeper, Deeper, Deeper into our bodies, Into our hearts. And then part three, The opportunity to integrate it into your own life, Into your own creative journey through a writing exercise that will be found below. So that's the regular medi class format, Part meditation, Part class. But what's different is my heart feels blasted open. I feel incredibly emotional, Incredibly sentimental. This right here will be the last solo podcast ever in the loft. In the loft, In this incredible creative sanctuary that has saved me, That has found me, That has allowed me for the past nine years to dive as deep as I possibly can into my heart, To sit with the divine, To sit with universe, To sit with God, To listen, To open my channels and share at a level that I have never come close to. For the past nine years, I've created hundreds of meditations here in this seat, In this loft. Hundreds of podcast episodes. Hundreds of creations of all sorts. Artist Morning was born here. Writers Club was born here. Heart Shots were born here. Creative Sanctuary was born here. Here, In this incredible loft that has such a deep, Endearing, Fond place in my heart. This loft made absolutely no sense, And I'd love to tell you the story about how this loft came to be. Because it connects so deeply to this conversation we've been having around finding your personal legend, Your purpose, The reason your soul chose to come to this planet at this time and this human. It's a term borrowed from Paulo Coelho from his incredible book The Alchemist. And it's this concept that when you want something, When you really want something, All the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it. The moment you commit, Life begins to collaborate with you. It's not that the universe does the work, But it starts to open doors when you start walking. And that truly is the story of The Loft. I immediately could feel that this course I was stepping into was not a masterclass in how to become a photographer, But rather a masterclass in human, In the human experience. Everyone that appeared in front of my lens was just a mirror, A manifestation of me. I could see myself in them. I could see the fears, The hopes, The dreams, The insecurities, The confidence, The desire to be both seen, Really seen, And also terrified that people would see them that existed in me and each person who sat in front of my lens, I would learn more and more about myself. This was October of 2016. And I Decided? I need more. I did my first portrait black and white session. I'm like, What is this? And so I committed foolishly, Naively to 20 more sessions before the year was done. It was almost like something was guiding me into this quest. It's insane. 20 portrait black and white shoots. And I just, I knew I needed to learn more and discover more about what this was, What I was sensing and feeling, What was coming into focus, Both in my lens and in my soul. And it almost killed me to do that many. And I didn't share any of them except for the first one. The first one I foolishly put online, Went to sleep, Woke up, Hundreds of comments, Hundreds of messages, All this, Wow, These photos are sensational. These are amazing. I've never seen, You know, His name was Majid Hashimi. I've never seen Majid like this. You captured his soul. And then I was terrified. I took those photos off because people were trying to book me for a thing I didn't know I could ever touch again, Do again. So I took those photos off but committed to 19 more portraits before the year was done. And on the last day of the year, After the 20 were completed and the last three waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa My mom. My dad, And myself. Those were the last three in the 20. Once that was completed, I don't even know where I came up with this, To be honest. It's kind of wild. I decided upon this new year that was coming up that I was going to put this career that I had been building as a cinematographer that was starting to take off. I was going to put it to the side, Which made no logical sense at all, And do the thing that every photographer in my life was telling me was a foolish thing to do. They were like, Photography's done. So lucky you know this more advanced thing called cinematography and filmmaking, You're gonna be saved. Because Instagram can't touch that, But Instagram has ruined photography. And so the three photographers that I was close with were all trying to get out of photography. And I'm like, So I'm gonna step away from this career that's about to take off and step into this unknown thing? And so I started to panic. And then I decided in a moment of clarity to give myself a sabbatical from that other guy, That other career, A 12 month break. And I told myself I can come back to this later, But for 12 months, I was going to see what's on this other side with this photographer guy. And I imagined signing a 12 month contract with the universe. And I actually wrote it somewhere. It's a 12 month contract. I'm going to throw myself into this thing for 12 months, Put this other thing on the side and see what happens. And my expectation was that if I like it, I have the opportunity to. . . Re-sign my contract with the universe for nine years, So a total of 10 years, Where I was gonna throw myself into this thing and my expectation was that if I throw myself into this thing, All I'm asking for in return is that I could be really good at the thing, Not the greatest there ever was, Not the world's best, Just really good. And I think that was a response to this exaggerated way of being in my 20s where I needed to be the next Facebook, The next Suckerbird, The next billion dollar app. These ridiculous expectations that were killing my creativity and my joy. And so I said, I just want to be really good at it. And the year came to an end. And then by February of that year, For the first time ever. I told the world that I was taking black and white portraits. And I thought, Who's gonna say yes to this? Who needs this? I was in such a scarcity mindset. I thought maybe one or two people would say yes. Within two days, Two months of shooting, Five times a week filled up. I sold out two months, Which was unheard of. And then when I thought everything was gravy and everything was going awesome, The landlord of the place we were living leasing. Said, Surprise! You guys gotta leave. I'm selling the place. Of course, I began to panic. What do you mean? I just booked two months. I just booked two months. How could this be? How could this be? And so panic ensued. You know, I thought, I don't know what to do. This is impossible. So I started looking for places, Looking for places, Looking for places. Remember, When you want something, When you really want something, All the universe conspires in ways beyond your understanding to help you achieve it. So we stumbled into this friend of a friend who was like, Oh, You're looking for a place? I work at the bank. Why don't I just see if you could be approved for a mortgage? I'm like, There's no way. There's no way. There's no way coming from the scarcity mindset. She runs the numbers and she says, Yes, You are. And so. . . Three months later. A walk into the law. I walk into the loft as like the 12th place we've seen outside of our budget. Just let's just take a look for fun. We know it's not going to happen. The moment I stepped into the loft before I stepped into the loft and I saw these beautiful windows, I knew in my heart, This is it. This is it. I've seen this before. It's been written. It has been written in my heart by my soul. This is it. I don't know how. I don't know what needs to happen. But this is it. There's so much more to the story, The adventure of how we got the loft. But instead of telling you that story, Obviously we got it. It was a crazy market in the city at that time, Like bidding wars and through another series of miraculous events, We got it. God to love. I got the loft and I had no idea. That this loft was gonna be the home to so much creativity. Hundreds of photo shoots, Hundreds of podcasts, Hundreds of meditations. Hundreds of artist morning facilitations. Wow, Wow, Wow, Wow, Wow. And this, This beautiful loft was the place Lillian and I fell in love after seven years of being best friends. And guess where I met Lillian? In that February when I sold out two months of shoots, She was in month two. That was the first time I met her. The moment you commit, Life begins to collaborate. I met my beloved. In that collaboration. I met my artist self. I met the podcaster, I met the coach, I met the meditation guide through that experience. Artists Morning was born here. Writers Club was born here. Creative Sanctuary was born here. Heartshots were born here. And guess what? My love for Lil was born here. It had a space here. This was the home where Ariel, Lil, And I became a family. This was the place that Tao grew and developed in his mom's belly. This incredible, Spacious, Loving, Supportive, Sanctuary. Was where we became a family. Thank you, Dear Loft. Thank you. Makes me want to cry. We've been through so much. Two of the most devastating, Heartbreaking breakups of my life. You were here. You were here. You held me. You supported me. You believed in me when I couldn't. Yes, This is the end of the Loft era. An era. There's a part of me that's scared. There's a part of me that's unsure. There's a part of me that's like, What's next? I don't know. I know the loft. I don't know what's next, But I do because just like the loft, What's next has been written, Written on my heart. Just like what's next for you has been written, Your personal legend. It's there. And yes, Sometimes it doesn't make sense to our heads. It defies logic. It defies what everyone's telling us. But when you slow down. . . You take a deep breath, You ground your energy, Slow things down, You remember. You remember what has always been written on your heart. If you can find the energy to commit, To start taking those steps forward, The universe will conspire in incredible ways to help you bring that dream to life. Life, It will start to open doors, Allowing you, Dear one, To step into that next creative era of your own. Thank you, Dear loft, I love you forever and always. You live in my heart for eternity. I will take the love you gave me and continue to share it with everyone, With anyone, With all that are ready for it. You will live here with me always, Always, Always. Okay, Thank you for letting me tell that story. I've told it in pieces and places, But I feel so honored to be able to capture it as a whole here, As a time capsule here, To share that story about that personal legend, My personal legend, The purpose. The thing that my soul has written onto my heart. My hope here is it will allow you to slow down, Allow you to go deeper, To root, To move from your head into your heart, And to remember. That your dreams have been written onto your heart as well. We're going to move into the meditation now. Today's Medi class is a little longer because this story deserves it. And so let's take a few deep breaths here. Slowly, Gently moving from our head space into our heart space. And if it's available to you, I want to invite you to close your eyes now. As we begin to go inwards together. What? Has your soul written onto your heart? What has your soul written onto your heart, Dear one? Perhaps there is a part of you that is confused, Does not understand. What I am asking. Breathe deeper now. Zoom out. And remember. Remember. Remember. Remember. There is a part of you that has always known. Let that part awaken now. Breathing deeply. Softening your forehead, Softening. Your jaw, Your neck, Your shoulders Breathing into your heart space. Your personal legend. The reason in which your soul chose to come here now. It's simpler than you think. It's literally right under your nose. It's okay if your mind is confused, Your mind doesn't get it, It's looking for logic. And practicality. Thank you, Mind. Thank you, Beautiful mind. We are awakening a wisdom. That is tens of thousands of years old. The wisdom of your soul. Breathing in to the depths of your heart. Breathing into the seat of your soul. Remembering. Remembering, Remembering, Remembering. And to bring more energy into the experience, I want to invite you to place one or two hands on your heart now. Hello dear heart, Hello old friend. I am here. I am open. I am ready to receive. I am here. I am open. I am ready. To remember. Continue breathing into your heart. Imagining your heart is smiling, Your face is smiling, Your soul is smiling. We are awakening your personal legend. We are awakening your creative spirit. Place your hands back down if you'd like. This is our last song. I'm gonna leave some space for you. Dear Heart, Is there something you want me to know? Dear heart, Is there something you want to share with me? Ask your heart now, And then just listen and remember. Awakening. Remembering. Reconnecting. To what has already been written, Been written onto your heart by your soul. Been written onto your heart by your soul. Thank you, Dear artists. Thank you, Friends. Thank you for going on this journey with me. For those curious adventurers that are interested in integrating today's episode, Today's METI class in a deeper, More personal manner, There will be a writing exercise below. Intended to build on what we've done in part one and two. The lesson in the meditation really comes together when you are able to bring it into your own life through your own writing. Thank you once again. My name is Darius and I will see you next time.

Reviews

I cannot wait to see what's coming from this new chapter! Thank you again and again, Darius!

This meditation is the sign I’ve been waiting for. I decided to go for a quick walk today, but quickly became so absorbed in your story and prompts, that I found myself on a bench in a beautiful garden, quietly crying. I realized that I have been at a crossroads, stuck, and unsure of how to move forward. I see now that I haven’t been living with my heart and soul, but going through the motions. Your legend is fascinating, and as a long time meditator alongside you, I was moved by your experiences, propelling you forward with such passion and magic. And thank goodness they did, as we as your virtual students, get to receive and reap the benefits! With much, much gratitude. 🙏

Thank you for sharing your story! This was incredible! Isn’t life beautiful when you look back and see all the things you have lived through? How with determination, courage and following your heart things do open up for you. You just have to believe in yourself to take that leap. Most times it’s amazing!
And if it wasn’t then there is always something to learn from. I look at those times as opportunities to grow.

I know how hard it is to leave a place that has brought so much joy to you and your life. But I also know there is so much more for you to experience and explore. It’s going to be unbelievable and I’m so excited to see where this goes.
Thank you for sharing your journey with us. I wish you the best my friend. 🙏🏻💕