Can You Let It “Just Look Different?” - A Love Letter to Living Our Truth
How to embrace a plot twist and make a decision I thought I never would - even though I wanted to! It's all your magic & a dose of Harry Potter.
What if I told you that there isn’t always a right or wrong answer? That, sometimes, it just looks different!
What if truth isn’t something we prove, but something we feel? And what if there is no one truth?
Let me begin with a little brain-twister: The Muller-Lyer Visual illusion:
Two horizontal lines — which one is longer?
Which Line is longer?
Answer: They are both the same length
The answer: they are both the same length, but here’s the surprising truth:
Most Western-conditioned brains add a cultural bias or lens and get tricked, thinking it's the top line. However, according to research that examined cultures beyond WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich, and Democratic), it was found that indigenous people from different countries perceive the lines for what they are: equal.
Why? Because they were raised to see differently, having spent so much time in nature, they see beyond the illusion.
I discovered this fact in 2017, which sparked my curiosity about perspective and significantly influenced my writing on decision-making, creativity, and awakening. It made me wonder:
> How much of what we believe is simply a result of conditioning and perspective?
Yet often we, as humans, need to make others wrong to feel right and feel secure. Why do we cling to being ‘correct’ in a world that is infinitely nuanced, layered, contextual, and yes, sometimes paradoxical?
Why is it so hard to let life and others just… look different?
I used to believe there was a ‘right’ way to live – the polished career path, the long-term relationship, no matter what, the conventional definitions of success. But when I started truly listening to my curiosity, the whispers of my intuition, my heart, and my body – everything changed. It just looked and felt different, true, and authentic for me.
My Secret: The Weird 2024 Plot Twist
At the end of 2023, the universe seemed to conspire to lead me to a decision I would not have taken 2 years before. But following my curiosity about the different synchronicities, I let it and my intuition lead me. I stepped away from what looked “successful” on paper and chose what felt true in my heart, even if it led to others ditching me.
The result? I found myself presenting and guiding tours at the Harry Potter Studios on weekends, while still nurturing Awakening Flow and following my deeper callings. Wild and weird, right? (especially at my age - well, that’s what my ego said).
At first, my ego protested:
“You’ve led strategy and technology teams, and I’ve re-trained to help people, to be of service! This doesn’t make sense!” But my soul whispered, yes.
And when I walked through the Great Hall doors on my first day, joy exploded in my heart like a firework - explosive! I bottled that feeling — a personal potion of magic, joy, and belonging. And that became my purpose: to help others feel it too and unlock their magic, especially when they failed to see it and their purpose, and that’s what I did, and I got some great reviews!
The job was (mostly) fun, but it wasn’t always glamorous. It was physically demanding, and the pay was modest. But it was real. I met people who lit up my soul. I flowed and glowed and I was in the moment!. And when it got hard and I questioned why I was there—9 hours on my feet, 7,500 visitors a day with the potential to drain energy; new scripts to learn—I’d put my hand on my heart and sipped from that inner magic potion again, I felt revived!
When I shared this with my soul friends, they reminded me: “You’re being of service Nila— it just looks different.”
The Courage to Let Go
2024 has been my most humbling, liberating year yet. I surrendered the need to conform.
And in that surrender, I witnessed something beautiful: people simply being… themselves. All expressions. All identities. Neurodiversity and its daily challenges, and the effort it takes to show up with energy. Budding actors, performers, entrepreneurs, mums and dads with non-typical kids, striving to become all-stars, yet picking themselves up if they meet a setback.
I met all soul signatures from all around the world. I learnt never to assume where anyone was from. Never to make quick judgments about anyone, or cultures - we are all different, and it’s all different! I aimed to make them all feel at home!
Many guests shared deep personal stories with me of what Harry Potter and its magic meant to them: a place to belong or escape, and that’s what it meant to me too! I cried with a few and laughed with many, and I still keep in contact with a special few! Their stories were different, but they were told with what felt like the same heart.
When I dropped my assumptions and leaned in with compassionate curiosity, I didn’t just see difference — I saw brilliance. Truth. Beauty in all its diversity - and I loved that it all looked different!
So in 2024, this became my mantra: “It just looks different,” and thank goodness for that!
But not everyone understood me.
Some people drifted away when I couldn’t attend expensive events or live a life they recognised. And honestly? Letting go was freeing.
Because the new connections I made — with trans women, non-binary creatives, neurodiverse beautiful souls from every walk of life — taught me more about authenticity, courage, and humanity than any book, posh school or corporate job ever could.
Their courage to show up every day, especially when we are so marginalised, or the energy overstimulating, left me in awe! However, I also offered my somatic tools to help them when it became too much, so I conducted an embodied session in the Great Hall, which went down so well!
And for me and my colleagues, and despite “She who shall not be named” (aka, JK Rowling's recent stance on Trans) - we found a home - and it is rich and diverse! And we made everyone welcome!
Beyond the easy and polarised: What is your truth?
So here is the challenge we find ourselves in society today, and it’s not our fault:
We are so conditioned to see in binaries:
Right/wrong. Man/woman. Spiritual/Muggle.
But life isn’t binary, and we need to stop trying to solve problems in a binary way.
Life is wild. It’s fluid. It’s deeply human, and that means complex. Can we start to see each other with a deeper sight? Our soul's eyes, because then we will know that we're all the same, even if our truth means- “it just looks different”
When we let go of needing others to be like us, we begin to love — and live — more fully.
What I Gained & Learned?
Yes, I led meditations under floating candles in the Great Hall. I met actors and creators. But most importantly, I found my own more profound truth and shared magic in the everyday.
I saw beyond the obvious, the job title, the superficial skin-deep. I saw souls being true to themselves - or at least, striving to!
The Deep Why: What’s Deeper?
This isn’t just about jobs or gender. It’s about life.
Your path may not make sense to others — that doesn’t make it wrong.
Others’ truths may look strange to you — that doesn’t make them invalid.
Judge less. Love more.
Get curious. That’s where magic lives.
Because Creativity — and Awakening — require Openness.
So here’s my invitation:
Let your life look different.
Trust the whisper beneath the noise.
Let it feel uncomfortable for a while and let the ego scream.
But do ask: What is my truth?
Listen deeply, and if it doesn’t get uncomfortable, you're not going deep enough!
And when in doubt, remember: It’s not the first thought that counts — it’s the second one you act on.
We are each a note in the symphony. And together, we create beauty.
With Moonbeams
Nila
P.S.
If your soul is whispering but your mind is loud — I’m here. Let’s explore what’s true for you, together. Just reach out.
P.P.S. Why do I capitalise: Chaos - Creativity and Flow? Because to me they are "Energic Archetypes that speak to me, if I get still and connect. And that is what I am writing about - Creativity and its allies (including Inspiration) as a gateway to Awakening and your Genius.