When human design found me over 7 years ago I was a broken human at rock bottom. Working a toxic job that had me chained to my desk till midnight. Battling a mystery illness that made the hospital become more like a home. Held down by the weight of a million expectations and a mask I did not realise I was wearing.
The system entered my life at just the right time to wake me up. Awe struck by the learning I was a Projector. It made me feel truly seen unlike ever before. Whilst the sceptic in me quickly reared her head; is this little-known thing like a weird as f*ck cult? I intuitively knew there was something more to it. It felt like someone had handed me a map to get out of the maze I was hopelessly lost in. So I dedicated every day for the next seven years to contemplating every single intricacy of my charts and lived my human design experiment, wholeheartedly.
Seven years later? Life is definitely different. So different that I segment my life into before Human Design and after Human Design. That is how significant this experiment has been for my existence. It was the compass that slowly gave me strength and permission to make changes. Like rising out of severe burnout and improving my health. Ditching my people’s pleasing ways and finding the courage to make an abundant living using my unique gifts. And most importantly, releasing the heavy armour of conditioning so I could be…me.
Whilst yes it certainly sounds like the happily ever after, make no mistake this is not a story filled with rainbows and sunshine. Like all captivating fairytales, it is much a hero’s journey. Failure, happiness, heartbreak and triumph. There could never be enough space to share what it is that I have learned over the past seven years of my experiment. But as a true 3 -5 profile, it’s probably a good time to document my current thoughts about the system and my experience after completing the first 7 year deconditioning cycle.
Just a note: these are MY personal views. I may or may not change my thoughts as I continue my ongoing experiment. Let this be an invitation to channel my writings through your own guidance system – take what resonates and leave what doesn’t.
Okay let’s roll on…
1.Out of all the modalites I’ve tried, I’ve found using a combination of Human Design & Gene Keys to be the most accurate and effective systems for understanding myself.
I’m a recovering self-help addict. I kicked off my quest to become the best version of myself by reading ‘The Secret’ whilst studying for my high school exams. As a curious 3 profile line, I spent the next two decades riding what I now call the personal development merry-go-round. From manifestation, to the law of attraction, subconscious reprogramming, alternative energy healing, varying western and eastern health systems and beyond. Sure all have been helpful and have their place, yet if I had to pick the ultimate for getting to know myself it would be hands down be Human Design and the Gene Keys in combination.
The reason why I think it’s the most effective out of the hundred modalities I’ve tried? It comes down to the level of detail and nuance of the framework. There’s no other system or modality that I’ve come across that provides such a diverse and deep language for contemplating and understanding the complexity of us human beings. Being a natural sceptic is part of my design, so it wasn’t enough for me to resonate with it to come to this big conclusion. It took deep diving into the charts and experiences of 2000+ strangers and those who aren’t into this whole personal development world to obtain enough real world data. So…this ain’t no time wasting MLM cult but a system that can hold a high level of resonance and value for so many humans. Give it a go and the rest might be history.
2.Human Design became a drug for my spiritual ego. They should put a warning label on this stuff.
I take my experiments seriously as a 3 profile line and give them my all like a mad scientist. Sure I’ll forever be an advocate for the Human Design system but there’s a hidden danger which is not talked about – and that is when the system becomes an addictive drug for the spiritual ego. The whole nature of studying through multiple levels and spending 7+ years studying yourself on such an intricate level easily lends itself to being a very self-absorbed and self-obsessive experience.
Every move can easily become an exhausting self-critique; am I living in alignment with my design? Am I feeling my not-self theme of bitterness? Have I ridden the emotional wave? The system that is here to connect you with your body only made my mind 200x busier at times! I treated it like a rulebook in the beginning and outsourced my power and authority to it. But there came a point when I realised: when you stop yourself from experiencing the imperfect HUMAN in Human Design you have taken your experiment too far. Everything in moderation as they say 😉
3.The Human Design labels expanded me. Until they restricted me.
When I started my human design experiment I gripped onto the word “Projector” unlike any other word in the english language. After a lifetime of feeling like I never truly fit into societal moulds, it was the label that made me feel like I finally belonged. Like there was a puzzle piece in the whole with my name written on it. The labels “3/5 profile” “emotional authority” expanded me emotionally and mentally mostly. But logically, they were needed too. I needed the labels to understand, contemplate and integrate in the first 5 years of my experiment.
The labels freed me…until they constricted me. There came a time six years in when they felt like old, heavy armour keeping me in a small box. Albeit a more glossy and glittery one. My soul whispered: You don’t need the labels any more. You are not a Projector. You are a human with Projector energy. These labels served their purpose, but they do not define my identity or anyone else’s for that matter. The human design system can surely awaken our understanding of ourselves, but it cannot define the whole of who we are or who we are yet to become.
4.Human Design can be used as a tool for empowerment or disempowerment. Be intentional with how you use it.
Like any tool, it is the user that sets the tone. Some people use hammers to build beautiful homes, others use them to unnecessarily attack others. Human Design can be used to empower but it can just as easily be a tool to harm yourself (and others). It was a massive contributor for me in making that “vision board life” a reality but I also used it as a weapon and avoidance tactic at times.
My spiritual ego loved acting #special and entitled, using my design as one big excuse to avoid doing the important albeit not so fun life things. I’m a 3 line…of course this is just an invitation to pivot instead of honouring the fundamentals of commitment. I’m a Projector…of course I’m going to rest up for the entire afternoon instead of working on this important task.
I saw this behaviour reflected in others too. How many times I’ve heard Generator business owners say “I’m not going to do any marketing because it doesn’t satisfy me”. The reality is we still live on planet earth. We have to work, eat, make money to survive and beyond. Sometimes we gotta do the stuff that doesn’t “align with our design” and that’s a-okay
5. I no longer solely measure my alignment or misalignment based on my signature or not-self theme.
The signature themes are the metaphorical compass points in human design that indicate to you whether things are going well. For Projectors, we are living in alignment when we are feeling “success”. For Generators and mani-gens it’s satisfaction. Manifestors, peace. Reflectors, surprise. Our not-self theme on the other hand (bitterness, frustration, anger, disappointment) is said to be an indication that we are living from other people’s conditions and moving out of alignment with our design.
I no longer resonate with this intricacy as much. Why? These signposts are based on emotions. The more I learn from my amazing clients including healers, psychologists and therapists, the more I realise that emotions are often fleeting. I question if they are an accurate enough signpost as to whether or not we are in or out of alignment. Back in the day I’d write off everything that made me bitter as “it’s not aligned”...until I realised I’d erred on the side of #entitled brat. Like the law of attraction “only think positive thoughts” teachings, it sometimes left me with a taste of toxic positivity and this assumption that everything that is meant for you will feel good, and everything that is not will feel bad. Alignment ain’t that simple.
Nowadays, sure these feelings act as little nods and trigger points to dive deeper but they don’t hold enough weight any more to majorly alter my decision making like before.
6. It helped me have more understanding & compassion for the suffering in the human experience.
The language and depth of the human design system and gene keys system were portals to not only understand myself better but others as well. Contemplating and experimenting more specifically the gates and gene keys was like embarking on a seven year psychological study on the shadows of the human experience.
Life before human design, there was an inner child within me who felt hurt by the ongoing oppression and repression in her lineage. Anger at how many generations could repeat the trauma and pain of the past. These systems handed me the guidebook to get to the roots of our human conditioning and understand just how easy it is to remain trapped in disempowering programming. After understanding came acceptance of the reality that we are merely a byproduct of our caregivers, upbringing and environment. Only then do you truly realise the courage and power it takes to be the circuit breaker in your family.
7. It also showed me how much potential we have to create a beautiful world when we embrace our unique genius.
Whilst yes living my human design experiment felt like a neverending excursion into the underworld, it also gave me a glimpse at just how much potential we all have to create a beautiful harmonious world. The system shows us that our strengths and gifts could be coded within us. There are things we are good at or qualities we hold that hold more value for the collective. As my Gate 16 The Magical Genius gift states “to prosper truly in the world is to find the one thing in life at which you excel above all others.” I got a first hand look at this whilst working with hundreds of clients in the health, healing and lifestyle spaces as a marketing & brand consultant.
These days many are playing the same puzzle piece, when really we are designed to be different and play diverse roles. I think the world will heal when we see ourselves as an apothecary of humans each serving our unique medicine. If it’s anything to go by, these seven years have shown me we are well on our way, but we need to work together to make it happen and pool our resources together towards a more healed harmonious world.
8. Deconditioning and unearthing your authentic self is the journey of a lifetime. But not everyone has the privilege to bloom.
I believe everyone is born with potential to expand, grow and evolve into their fullest authentic design and expression. Just like flowers in nature we all are seeded with an innate blueprint. But the harsh reality is not everyone will, wants to or has access to resources that help them bloom.
Our environment and external systems we are placed in have a lot of impact. Just like a flower born in a malnourished garden without much fertiliser or rain, it will only grow so far without resources. Sometimes life is just like that, some are born in poverty, in broken homes, in darkness – sure there is potential there – but the hero’s journey is often far more difficult. For others all the access to health and healing is there, but the desire to change may not. I’ve learnt the hard way that even if people are in pain, their blooming is of their own making. Turns out “being yourself” isn’t as easy as the self-help books made it out to be and not everyone is meant to walk the path of authenticity in this life.
9. It’s a map, not a magic pill. It’s only worth the time & energy learning Human Design if you APPLY it to your everyday life & accompany it with other modalities.
Too many people see Human Design as an all-in-one magic pill or use it as one big escape from the real world. My personal consensus: it is ultimately just an energetic map & guidebook (and an amazingly complex one at that). It’s no surprise that learning and contemplating every intricacy of your design takes a huge chunk of time out of your life. So I really only think it’s worth the time if one studies but also gets their head out of the books and APPLIES it to their everyday life.
If only it were that simple! Human Design theory is vast but applying it? That’s a whole other ballgame. Guidance on experimenting, integrating and applying was minimal in the earlier years so I had to figure it out the hard way. Practical 5 profile much? To apply it we often need to supplement it with other modalities and trained professionals in their respective fields if we have the means to. I think deconditioning is done best by taking the information to a trained and licensed mental health professional or counsellor. I think aligning with your design in business is done best by working with someone who also has a professional background in business, marketing or sales. The good thing is as Human Design grows we have access to more humans who integrate the best of both worlds.
10. Learn from people you vibe with most. And that may or may not change on the journey.
Many people are put off by their first foray into the Human Design system because they just aren’t on the same wavelength as its messenger and ‘founder’ Ra. I get it. He can come across quite blunt, dogmatic and sure there were moments when I scratched my head wondering what on earth he was saying watching his lectures on the Jovian Archive – but he’s the Mainfestor that it needed to launch. Ra was masterful at repackaging what essentially are ancient systems into a new fresh box. He was a messenger for synthesising the I Ching, chakra system, astrology into one map or framework. It is, in human design terms, a mutation.
So many others have come after him like Jenna Zoe, etc to share the wisdom of the human design system in more varied and modern ways. Some may dismiss it and downgrade it as “pop HD”. But the gift of Heart Branding (Gate 31) in me calls it keeping up with the times, sharing the same message in different communication frequencies and giving people more choice as to who and how they learn. The last few years I no longer vibe as much with the traditional human design transmissions, but that of the work of Richard Rudd’s Gene Keys work. There is a time and place for all voices.
So that’s a wrap sharing 10 things about my experience spending 7 years experimenting with the Human Design system. It’s been a riveting chapter in the book of life with so many highs and of course so many lows too. I’m not sure where the next seven year cycle will take me but my 3/5 Projector design is certainly here for the ride! If you’re still here reading my thoughts on the interwebs I wanted to thank you for joining me on this illuminating journey. If you’re a fellow traveller on the human design experiment path reach out on instagram @kiaramareeco. Would love to hear your experiences! Ciao, Kiara.