Before Judging: Gather all the Facts
- Jennifer Lasell
- Sep 13
- 3 min read
Updated: Sep 13
Life often places us in moments of uncertainty, loss, or challenge, and in those moments, the mind leaps to judgment. “I should have… I failed… I’m not enough…”—thoughts arise automatically, like old patterns pressing for attention. We want to measure, control, and make sense of what is happening. Yet the whole picture is rarely visible at first glance.
Gathering all the facts is not about rushing to a conclusion or labeling ourselves. It is an inward journey, a layered noticing of surface reactions, underlying patterns, emotional tone, and subtle currents of memory and intuition. It is witnessing, without rushing, the habitual self at work, and allowing a deeper clarity to unfold.
And sometimes, clarity appears in the most unexpected way, through a single moment, a single object, a single living presence—a rose.
The Rose and the Seeker (A Story)
She knelt in the garden, eyes drawn to a single rose. Its color was vivid, almost startling, the petals soft as whispered secrets. She reached toward it, and the fingers of her mind reached, too—grasping at shape, at color, at thorns that pricked her awareness.
For a long while, she stayed at the surface, naming and measuring, judging what she could see. The form was comforting, familiar—a world she could touch, categorize, and hold. Yet, something tugged beneath her ordinary knowing, a quiet insistence that the rose was more than petals and stem.
She breathed and began to notice the spiral in the bloom, the subtle rhythm of each curve. She felt the tension in the stem, the fragile balance that held the form together. Her mind wanted to move on, to label and file, but her attention lingered. Slowly, she felt the soft hum of quality—the energy that made the rose itself, the tone it carried in the quiet of the garden.
Then came the pervasiveness. The rose threaded through her awareness like a gentle river. A memory surfaced: the day her mother passed. She had not been there. The absence of presence, the silence of not holding a hand, the ache of what she could not witness—all of it rose in her chest. And yet, here in this single bloom, she felt a bridge between grief and comfort. The rose carried both the sorrow of absence and the quiet, tender energy of life hereafter. Its petals seemed to pulse with longing, its thorns a reminder of loss, and every curve and shadow intertwined with the ache of not being there. Her habitual self whispered to turn away—but she stayed, letting awareness expand, letting memory, grief, and the living presence of the rose coexist in a single, breathing moment.
And then there was the essence. Beyond the petals, beyond color, beyond memory and longing, something alive and luminous hummed at the core of her being. It was neither object nor thought, neither past nor future, but a resonance that touched her own pulse, her own knowing. It whispered of growth, impermanence, and connection, of presence without attachment. She understood, not with words, but with the quiet, full recognition of being alive in this moment.
She rose, her eyes still on the bloom, yet her gaze had shifted inward. The rose remained, unchanged, yet something within her subtly awakened.
Conclusion
To gather all the facts in life—especially when we judge ourselves harshly—is to witness in this way. Surface reactions, patterns, qualities, pervasiveness, and essence unfold together. The mind, heart, and intuition converse in a nonlinear dance. Clarity emerges as a living, layered awareness, as recognition of both self and world in their full, intricate depth.
The subtle awakening of spirit emerges in the present moment of awareness.
About Jennifer Lasell
I’m a psychic medium, spiritual life coach, and energy healer, dedicated to helping people connect with their intuition and inner wisdom. My work is rooted in meditation, reflection, and deep listening, offering guidance with care, presence, and respect for each person’s unique path.
I provide spiritually guided readings and a gentle, sacred space where spirit-to-spirit connection supports every session. With the guidance of your spirit guides and guardian angels, we explore your questions, insights, and inner guidance—helping you notice the wisdom that already lives within you. As a spiritual life coach, I also help you translate these insights into practical steps, empowering you to move forward with confidence, clarity, and alignment.
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