The I-Am is the boundary that separates you from everything else. The I-Am is visualized in many different ways. For the start of this chapter I used a solid body, but there are many other ways to think about it.
One important point is that I am sure that the soul can extend outside the edges of the body. So the I-Am, as it encloses the soul, may need to be larger than the body.
When I think about the I-Am, I sometimes take a martial arts perspective. In that point of view I see three zones. I want to thank Mike Panian for this insight.
The outer zone is beyond the area where I can be physically harmed. The outer edges of my soul are starting to connect with the outer edges of my opponent’s soul. The engagement has started in soul reality although outsiders might not see anything in physical reality.
The middle zone is where we can start to physically interact with one another. This is where most people would say their I-Am exists. It’s also the nearest distance we feel comfortable standing when we are talking to a stranger.
The inner zone is right next to my physical body. It is the closest distance I can let an opponent get physically and still be safe from harm. At this distance there are strong interactions between my soul and my opponent’s soul. That has been going on ever sense we noticed each other, but they are much stronger at this distance.
I think the I-Am has all of these parts. Other people prefer to think of the I-Am as having one distance with extensions beyond it and different kinds of protections inside. Let’s look at how some other people think about the I-Am.
One person I know thinks of it as a flying teacup with a lid on top. If you know the comic strip Rose Is Rose, think about Pasquale’s dream ship. The cup can be sealed off for protection, but it usually allows energy to move into and out of it.
Another person thinks of it as a control room. He travels to the control room to work with people-shaped beimgs that represent the regions of his soul. When he goes outside of the control room, he is in soul reality. He sees connections with others coming into his control room in different regions of his soul. Sometimes they show up even when they aren’t wanted but, with effort, he can open and close the connections to keep himself safe.
This is the important aspect of the I-Am. Inside that area you are in charge of yourself. David Spangler uses the concept of standing in your own sovereignty. A sovereign is a ruler of a place. Inside the I-Am you should be the ruler of yourself.
The I-Am is not always like that, a place of sovereignty. It comes in many varieties. The differences show up in how well the I-Am processes life force.
Life Force Processing
Some I-Ams may be rigid, brittle, full of holes, torn, broken, shattered, or even nonexistent. Those leave the soul unprotected from dangerous life force. On the other hand, an I-Am may be so tightly closed with shields and protections that no life force can get through. That’s not healthy either because our souls need energy to live.
The best sort of I-Am is strong enough to protect you from danger and open to receiving positive life force for all the regions of your soul. It reaches out from the Energy and Form regions to gather life force in the upper and lower worlds. That I-Am is resilient, flexible, and as open or closed to the life force around you as it needs to be for your best life. It can shield your soul when it needs to and gather positive life force when it is available. It gives the soul regions enough space to feel comfortable and makes enjoyable contact with the I-Ams of other people.
We’ll look at ways to develop a healthy I-Am in the Next Steps chapter.
Lessons
The lessons to learn related to the I-Am are related to its ability to protect you when you need protection and still let in the life force you need to live.
One-Minute Exercise
This exercise looks at the openness of your I-Am.
Find a safe place where there is a lot of positive life force. It will probably be outside in a natural setting. For this exercise it’s best to be away from people and their confusing mix of positive and negative life force.
Stand or sit tall. One by one open the part of the I-Am surrounding each region of your soul and pull some positive life force into that region. For each region write down how much life force you were able to pull in. Use 3 for a lot, 2 for some, 1 for a little, and 0 for none. Here is a list of the regions:
Energy
Wish
Will
Heart
Voice
Mind
Form
If you have regions where it’s hard to pull in life force, there are two possibilities. The I-Am might be blocking it or the region might not be able to accept life force. It doesn’t matter which it is. What you want to do is measure this every month or so to make sure you are making progress in being able to receive life force. You may even find that what you think of as a lot of life force changes. What seemed like a lot when you started might not seem like as much later on. Make a note of that in your records, too.
This exercise can also be done another way. Find a chaotic place with a lot of negative life force. Make it someplace where you body will be safe. A TSA screening line at a busy airport comes to mind. Riding in a car stuck in rush hour traffic is another possibility, especially if the driver is seriously irritated. Go through each of the regions and write down how much of the negative life force you are able to block out. This is also good as a monthly checkup.
