Prayer… A communion, from the heart, a way of being.

Lately everyone I speak to is talking about changes.  And not little shifts but MAJOR changes.  Changes like quitting an old job without knowing what’s next, surprisingly being offered a new job with unexpected complexities and needing to decide what to do, moving to a new house in a new neighborhood or city, breakups, divorce, health symptoms prompting new healthy habits that feel annoyingly unfamiliar, deep, undeniable feelings of stagnation igniting a desire to seriously mix it up and branch out.

And woven into all of these conversations I keep hearing the sometimes vague, sometimes direct implication that we should know how to navigate these changes.  Really?  Why?  I don’t remember right now happening before.  Do you?

Personally, I don’t know how to navigate all the changes happening in my life, and it’s actually sort of freeing.  Things are falling away I had hoped would stay.  Other things are transitioning and I don’t know what will come of it.  Opportunities are coming in I don’t yet know what to do with so, as gracefully as I can, I’m letting them simmer.  Situations I was sure would go one way turn out quite another and I just have to go with it.  For instance, last month – and this is one of many such moments I’ve had in the past month alone – I went to a hot spring to relax for a few days and one evening got lost for a couple hours in the woods when I had only intended to go out for a stroll and ended up having to hitchhike 9 miles back to the hot spring.  Crazy, right?  But, that’s life. Full of unexpected surprises and faith-inspiring adventures.  And it’s happening to and through all of us all the time, no matter how much we try to safety-proof ourselves from it.

Had all the changes and uncertainties happening now taken place in another moment at another time I may’ve been having a meltdown right about now.  In fact, I can clearly remember quite a few moments when my tension about not knowing combined with my fear of being unsupported caused me to SNAP!  And, who knows – maybe tomorrow I’ll hit a bump in the road and my check engine light will come on.

But right now my attitude is that the level of change that’s happening is so extraordinarily huge, it’s moved into the realm of comedy.  It’s practically knee-slappingly hysterical how unrelenting life is with crowbarring each of us out of our holding patterns, especially of taking ourselves so seriously, and shepherding us to loosen up and go with the flow.  So given that this tide is way bigger than anything any of us could even try to control – why not enjoy it?

Personally, I’m all for deciding that this is the best moment of our lives so far.  And considering that it IS happening, why not relish it and embrace it like the lover we’ve been waiting our whole lives to find?  This may sound overly-romantic to the pragmatist in you, but truly, the palpable, fertile potential hanging in the atmosphere right now could ignite the most exciting stretch of new growth we’ve each ever had and, to me, that’s wildly exciting!

So wouldn’t it be lovely to look back on now and see it as one of the most thrilling and empowering moments of opportunity you had up to this moment?  That’s the feel I’m going for.  Perhaps you’d like to too?

If you’re a yes to that, then let’s ride this wave of change and not knowing, complete with its electric sparks of anxiety and life altering possibilities, with delight and laughter and see it all as good news.  Let’s take ourselves off the hook of pretending that we should know how to do this better than we do and assume a stance of playful grace as things continue to bump along in the night and we’re called to expand far beyond our current comfort zones.

I mean, what more can we do than chart what’s before us the best we know how, ask for help when we need it, and surrender the rest to life, who’s thoroughly taking care of us all the time?

To me, that’s wisdom.

art: Spirit Vulture by Sylvan Thorncraft

You say you don’t know,
aren’t quite clear yet,
and will figure it out later.
You put off shifting, hold onto your confusion,
and deny your resistance to the truth
as you resign yourself to
feeling stuck.

If you are willing to move forward
then open yourself to the reality that
the answers to your questions and challenges
are being broadcast to you right now.
All you need to hear this guidance
is a willingness to l-i-s-t-e-n
and let go of what you’re holding onto.

The opportunity available to each of us
is the Everyday Vision Quest
where all around you, all within you, all the time
the greater intelligence
is emanating the answers to your questions,
ever guiding you home.

Simple as that?  See for yourself.
Has there ever been a situation in your life
where there weren’t signs guiding your way?

I am
a Listener,
a Seer,
and a willing participant
in the dance of Life.
My eyes are open
and I am ready to receive
all that is here for
me to perceive!

:: Embodiment ::

1.

Take a little stroll through memory lane to explore the way the Life’s signs speak to you.

Pick a situation that has now completed itself but that that you had a difficult time getting to a place of clarity with. Look back on the time period before and during the clarity obtaining process and make a list of all the signs that came to you as Life attempted to guide you.  Make a list of the emotions you were experiencing that made it difficult to perceive and receive Life’s guidance and what this tension felt like in your body. There is a distinct feeling present in each of us when we are in resistance and are instead being influenced and perhaps deluded by our stories. This feeling is an important thing to know about yourself so you can own your emotional patterns and respond to Life’s messages with greater receptivity.  It is equally important that you become familiar with what it feels like when you are in the flow in an aligned and balanced way so look back on situations where that was present too.

2.

Run a daily experiment to strengthen your relationship with Life’s messages to you. Start the day with a question (or two) that you’d like an answer on and then slow down enough so that you can really PAY ATTENTION to what is happening around you because everything is a message. It could be a song you hear, email you receive, quote you come across, book you pick up or are given, animals around you, a random thought that pops in your head, noticing something new or different in your surroundings, a conversation or question someone brings up, persistent feeling, physical sensations, etc.  Life speaks to each of us in a unique that is meaningful to who we are. The key, of course, is to not filter your perception based on what you want to hear but to open yourself to what is actually being said.

…

“You are what your deep, driving desire is.
As your desire is, so is your will.
As your will is, so is your deed.
As your deed is, so is your destiny.”
~ Brihadaranyaka Upanishad IV . 4 . 5

“When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.”
~Audre Lord

Who you think you are and what you think you know about yourself stands in the way of you discovering yourself.

The natural flow of life is an experience based adventure carrying you through an endless sequence of events designed to introduce you to the infinite aspects of your being, thus ever expanding your identity and understanding of reality!

Sounds exciting and fun, right? Sure, sounds great… on paper!  But to interact with life in this manner is nothing short of a paradigm shift from how you’ve been operating thus far for it requires a moment-to-moment letting go of your habit of fitting life into your framework and instead asks that you open yourself to life.

Imagine a scientist conducting an experiment who has such a strong, through perhaps unexamined, predetermined belief about the outcome that, due to his bias, he unconsciously designs the experiment only to prove himself right. Why would he bother going through the motions of an experiment if it’s only to prove what he already thinks is true? What’s the point in that? Good question… and one you may want to begin asking yourself when you notice that you’re trying to fit the vastness of life and your Divine nature into the box of “what I know.”

Children use floaties and training wheels when learning to swim and bike but the second they figure out how to move without them, they rip them off like yesterday’s news and proudly explore their new abilities, taking their physicality to the next level. You are in exactly the same position: you have learned how to get to where you are now through the ideas you’ve collected and created about who you are, how life is, what’s real, what’s right, and what’s available for you and others, etc.  You’ve done an excellent job but the truth is resoundingly clear: you don’t need these thought-form training wheels anymore and it’s time to let yourself flow WITH life, allowing its currents to move you in a fresh way, supporting you in discovering what you do not yet know and to do so through experience. Unlike the scientist who is safe, safe, safe, this way can be messy, unpredictable, confusing, full of emotion, and confronting but it is your only path of true fulfillment for it is one you will have walked yourself.

:: Embodiment ::

Consider these questions (and perhaps take some time to write on them if you’re inspired to take the invitation of Discovery on): Who would I be if I did not know so much about who I am? What would I do if I didn’t already have an idea of what I’m willing or interested in doing? What would I try if I had no preferences to bend to or self-image to keep up? Who kind of relationships would I have if I had no concept of how relationships, partners, or friends should be? What might I get to experience if I didn’t know what was real?

Give yourself whatever kinds of support and permission you need to experience any and everything you are drawn to. Let your desires and intuitive sparks carry you into the flow of life and do things outside of what is familiar for you. This may show up as micro-movements such as pulling your energy inwards if you tend to be externally oriented and visa versa or, if you’re feeling bold, take large steps to follow your dreams. When you come into your center, you know what’s right for you and what you’re ready for. Likely you’ve been thinking about this already.

Remember: The pragmatic scientist can wear his white jacket all day without getting so much as a smudge on it but the child comes home full of life, a bit dirty, knees scraped, and full of stories. Which one do you want to be?