Haley Hoffman Smith: Worth the Flight
Whether we believe it or not, there is something beyond our physical perception. Our divinity is undeniable, and we can sense it when we take a moment to make a few deep breaths, look within and ask ourselves: “If I put aside all my physical identities, who am I then?” When we are aware that we are not our thoughts, but we are the ones thinking them, we can deliberately focus our attention to be in alignment with our purest desires.
Haley Hoffman Smith is an entrepreneur, bestselling author, and subconscious breakthrough coach who most recently released her first inspirational single, “Worth the Flight.” In describing herself, Haley says, “I am a lifelong learner, committed to expansion in the physical plane. A very creative individual who wants to learn the secrets of the universe and manifestation. I’m using my own life experience and tapping into the art sources that feel best to me, which now incorporate music.”
As we observe variety, measurement can be beneficial as a starting point for us to define what we want and make our preferences clear. However, too much measurement and comparison will create an overwhelming momentum of questioning our own worthiness. Compare, get the clarity of wanting, and then release that desire into discovery to enjoy the steps of its unfolding along the way towards its manifestation.
About this sense of measurement and validation, Haley shares, “I studied business in college. So I know about market research. From an entrepreneurial perspective, seeing what was not out there on the market, I could fill in the blank with my own interpretation of what people could want based on what they’re asking for. An example of that is the Dream Away Community, which I host and the Slingshot meetings, which are my group EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) sessions. But as I have been getting into a field that feels very personal to me, like with songwriting and singing, I’ve actually been struggling a bit with comparison over the last month. My single, “Worth the Flight,” just came out and I was feeling— ‘Am I where I should be with my first song? With the number of followers, I have?’—looking at it from a real business perspective of the strategic side of the launch. And the thing that keeps reining me back in is, ‘No, it really should be about how it feels, Haley.’ When you sit down at the piano and joy is coming to you, that feeling when you’re writing a song, seeing it, sharing it is enough without any type of external validation. Obviously, I’ve been literally trained to make sure I’m always adapting to external validation and who’s buying and what. And so, this whole journey recently for me has been like, ‘Well, okay, if you’re doing it, instead of as a means to an end, how should that feel to you?’ And then that helps me not think about comparison anymore, because everybody has their own creative journeys. And I hope all artists are enjoying the process as much as I am.”
Joy is a state of beingness. When we identify a joyful experience with a physical manifestation, then we enslave ourselves to outside stimulation to be in that joyous state. It can be a fun game when we are aware of it. Then we realize that we do that as a momentary prank to ourselves, with none of our joy coming from within. But when joy is felt from within, with a little bit of practice, we can tune in to that state of being without conditioning ourselves to anything outside of us. Then the rest becomes a bonus in our life experience.
“I am really into meditation. And I’ve also taken some intuitive meditation classes, where I actually do a lot of energy work on myself and with the people who I work with, so that we’re not taking on each other’s energy. For example, we do a weekly energy reading in the Dream Away community every Sunday, where we pull cards, and we discuss the themes of the week. At the beginning of every reading, I have us do what are called grounding cords, where we plug in that first chakra, the grounding cord goes all the way down to the center of the earth’s core. And we all just let go of anything that’s not ours. And then I teach everyone to call back their energy. So even just being really intentional about sending out the practice that we do in group work that way, I think is really helpful because it’s a very vulnerable environment to be talking through the challenges that we’re going through and to do that spiritual work together. But I do it for myself religiously. In the morning, I always have time without my phone where I’m meditating. I really like Joe Dispenza meditations. So I make sure to have good, spiritual hygiene and take care of myself. And notice that if I’m feeling off, it’s probably because of something energetic, and just making sure I’m always grounded in the work that I do. And doing the same with clients and people in the community,” says Haley.
Self-care is often referred to as something selfish, and it is, because we can only project from our self-perspective. But what can we offer to others if we don’t fill our own cup first? Think about it. All of us, but especially those like Haley, who are continually giving out their energetic focus to nurture others, it can be depleting. And in that state of being tired, what can we offer?
WEOLA, the collective energy channeled by Kosta Trifunovic, says, “To be selfless, you first have to be selfish.”
When we first and foremost take care of our own state of being by using any tools such as meditation, or anything that softens our external focus, then it’s like tapping into our Divine selves, and then applying that divinity to anything and everything we give our attention to—a win-win for the giver and the receiver.
Photography // Kevin ScanlonHaley continues discussing her healing work, saying “Your subconscious stores all the information from ever since you were born, things you don’t consciously remember. And I’m really interested in our self-concept and how that manifests—your belief about yourself and the experience that you have. And what I found through my own healing work, which was primarily with EFT or tapping, was that when I went back through a lot of the memories from my past, I started to find these really interesting links. So one commonality that a lot of people have is the fear of being seen, which means, you’re really scared to show yourself or you might be scared to post on social media. And if you do, you don’t get any views. And you’re like, ‘Why? My content is really good, what’s going on here?’ And then what I would do as a coach would ask, ‘When’s the time in the past that you were seen, and it didn’t go very well?’ And the answer could be something like, ‘In kindergarten, I had to read in front of the class, and I was stuttering over my words, and everyone was laughing at me.’ Well, even though that was when you were five years old, your subconscious has taken that on and it’s like being seen is scary. And then in your experience, you feel really blocked when it comes to opportunities to be seen. But I’ve also found that you can have this camouflage, that’s very subconscious, where even if you are showing up and putting in the work, your content won’t be seen, because you’re scared of that experience. And that’s before I started to heal it. Obviously subconscious breakthroughs can be across the board; money, fear of success is a big one that I work with in my Slingshot sessions, where on a deeper level, you might actually be really scared of having the big dreams that you want, because you’re worried if people going to be jealous or your family or people going to ask for money—all the things that could come with it. And we basically figure out in a subconscious break through the link where it came from: Your parents taught you this? Where did you learn this? What experience before had that link? And the breakthrough itself is the link where people are, ‘Whoa, I never thought that this would play a role in this or that I’m still carrying this emotion from all these years ago.’ And then when we clear it through EFT and give you a new perspective and belief system around it, then you manifest a different outcome,” excitedly shares Haley.
“Worth the Flight,” Haley’s first single, is filled with energy and inspiration based on her life experiences. She tackles topics related to taking one’s fate into one’s hands, self-empowerment, and consciously expanding the relationship with oneself. About it, Haley says, “I will say that fate is used lightly in the song, “Worth the Flight,” because I’m a believer that you have multiple reality options in front of you to choose from. But the song in general is about putting your life on hold, because you’re waiting for someone to catch up, or to get on that level in a relationship too. Because sometimes, one person is doing a lot of healing, leveling up, and work and the other person is not available for that. And there’s a lot of fear, such as if I keep changing and growing, the fissure between is going to be bigger, and that we’re never gonna be able to be together as a result. So often we feel this strong connection with someone but choosing them over the life that you have in front of you. Then ultimately the character in the song decides at the end of it that she’s the one who’s going to hop on the flight by herself to move to France—the metaphor of a flight to bridge the distance or putting in the effort for someone worth the fight.”
Sometimes, we get so sharply focused that we tend to overthink. In that state, it’s like a cloud in front of us that we can’t see beyond. Taking a moment to ease up and relax will naturally soften our mind, bringing us to the perspective of seeing things from a little bit of a distance. At that moment, our focus becomes wider, and we get to see that same event from a broader, softer perspective.
“I’ll say a lot of that requires some distance from the situation that’s happened in your life and viewing it from the highest perspective of love and grace for everyone involved. So honoring your feelings if you were hurt in a situation, but also seeing the larger role that certain situations have played in your narrative. I’ll say that it was really important to me for the song to end on a really hopeful note, too. So it’s like, you know, sharing the story of heartbreak. But the last line of the song is that the best days of my life haven’t happened yet, instead of waiting for a partner. I think like, stories bond us as humans, because I think the reason this song has resonated with a lot of people, it’s because the story was so honest,” says Haley.
It’s very important to honor our desires, as when we don’t do that, the feeling of resentment starts to cripple in. But honoring our desires also entails honoring the desires of others too. Allowing ourselves and others to embrace their preferences, predominantly manifest in a magical serendipitous mutuality.
“In any form of relationship, romantic or friendship, when the desires are different, the main thing is being able to be super honest about the things you need and want and having that also be separate from the relationship. Because those two individuals who form a relationship, want to say, this is what I really need for me. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t love you or want the best for you. And of course, every relationship in your life mirrors in some way your relationship with yourself.” Haley pauses and continues, “I love my optimism. And that’s very much ties in with my mindset. I really genuinely feel that the things that I want for my life are possible. And even when I’m in a new phase, even with launching my music, although I was pretty candid about comparison and feeling a little insecure in the new chapter, I said to myself, “No, Haley, you can figure this out! You can definitely do this!’ I always hold myself in the highest vision for my life. I guess, that’s been a reflection of the relationship I’ve cultivated with myself to get back to that. And I also would honestly say I have found I’m really inspired by people who give their all too. They’re like divine work on earth.”
Like Haley, what version of yourself are you holding on to? Remember, every single moment is an opportunity for you to start shifting and changing your life’s story in the direction of your highest self.
Photography // Kevin Scanlon