Awards, Accolades & the Awkwardness of Being 'Recognised' in a Spiritual World

There’s something quietly ironic about receiving awards in a spiritual field. I use the term 'field' as 'industry' hurts my Soul.

A field that teaches humility, surrender, service and the emptying of ego… then hands you a trophy.

Recently, I found myself in this very position — humbled, proud, awkward, grateful… and surprisingly thoughtful.

At the Spiritual Leaders Awards, At One Events was honoured with the Retreat Facilitator Award, and not long after, I was also named among Canberra’s Top 5 Psychics. Both acknowledgements were unexpected. Both appreciated. Both invited reflection.

Because recognition in a spiritual field is never straightforward.

When Awards Lift… and When They Divide

On their best day, awards can:

• Help people find trusted practitioners

• Highlight ethical work

• Elevate good standards

• Build public confidence

• Offer encouragement behind the scenes

• Open doors otherwise closed

• Give smaller businesses visibility they might never afford

Recognition can act as a 'platform'.

It can give your work a voice louder than your own reach ever could.

But awards also live in tricky territory.

They can create comparison where there should be community.

Competition where there should be compassion.

Assumptions where there should be conversation.

And in a spiritual space especially, they can stir something deeper — questions of ego, worthiness, rejection, undoing, and longing.

I’m very aware that for every person who feels seen through recognition… another may feel invisibly overlooked.

And both experiences deserve compassion.

Recognition Doesn’t Equate to “More Spiritual”

Let me say this clearly:

An award does not make someone more spiritual.

Being listed does not make another less gifted.

A title does not replace integrity.

Spiritual capacity is not measured by trophies.

It is measured by humility.

By service.

By the lives quietly changed.

By the cups refilled.

By the people who walk away healed, not impressed.

If anything, recognition should deepen responsibility — not inflate self-importance.

A Reminder, Especially If You Feel Overlooked

If you are reading this and thinking:

“I work just as hard.”

“I love Spirit just as deeply.”

“I serve just as sincerely.”

Then let me say this gently:

You are right.

Awards shine light.

But Spirit sees in full.

And there will never be an award big enough to validate a soul doing honest work.

So What Do Awards Mean… If Anything?

Perhaps they mean:

• People felt helped

• Standards were noticed

• Work had impact

• Someone felt changed by their experience

And that’s enough.

Not for status.

But for confirmation that service still matters in a noisy world.

The Privilege Remains the Same

Whether recognised or not, the privilege remains unchanged:

To sit with people in their grief.

To witness Spirit’s love.

To watch healing unfold.

To walk alongside lives in their most vulnerable moments.

No award could ever replace that.