This below started with an experience of pressure, leaning and pulling on me from self and others around time…which opened into a spaciousness with a guide. In trusting this energy, I was shown/given an opportunity by way of willingness to surrender to this, to lay down the pressure time tables of the moment at hand, which provided an alternative experience of an ultimate trust and willingness to let go. Enjoy.
Time is a mental construct that we can chose to engage with, it’s always a choice. There is also a plane that is free of time, (I experience this today as a white, blue, gem-like quality) entirely peaceful with no requirements of when, no matter or judgment about timelines, they don’t exist from this level. From this plane, I experience self as entirely at peace and ease. Timelines are suggestions imposed by the culture and people around you, including yourself, to create the illusion that we are the ones creating the movement and flow. Where as from our perspective, flow is established, it is part of natural law and we are able to choose how we engage in that flow.
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How often do we hold onto things that no longer serve us, or even things that were full of joy but no longer present? Most of us, hold on, it’s a natural survival technique, often disguised as either taking ‘responsibility’ to understand and to look at things that pass through, or attempting to recreate the pleasures. But underscoring these techniques is often fear, and a lack of trust. Fear that whatever was unpleasant may happen again if we don’t understand in full, or take enough notes on reworking it through our minds, or fear that there isn’t experiences waiting for us, meeting us at every step along the way, new unexpected and experiences we couldn’t imagine possible.
When we go through something that we perceive as unpleasant, it’s quite natural to take the time to work through whatever that was, with our whole being, not just our minds. We often need to let the dust settle, and then access parts of ourselves including the felt sense of where the pressure, or constriction lies in the body, and/or to talk it through with a trusted confidant, creativity work out pleasurable alternatives or outcomes in our minds, and sometimes, take action, or refrain from an action. But once worked through to the extent that feels organic and necessary, the kindness of laying things down is not only compassionate and wise, but also signals a deep trust in ourselves and the universe that there is more life to be lived. If there is more to learn, we can be reassured that the lesson, will come back again in some form, often after a time of rest and integration that occurs on more basic level. In this way, we take in the experience, learn what we can, find the source of acceptance of a needed lesson, and be grateful, even if it was a hard lesson. And then, move on. If it comes up again in our thoughts, as being reworked in the mind, see if you can turn to it, acknowledge, and then place it down to attend to the thing present in your physical surroundings. In this way, we learn both presence to the vibrant life unfolding before us, while also offering ourselves a kindness to not pick at a scar that needs time to heal. The same thing can be true of pleasant experiences. We often come into an experience, or maybe a relationship, or endeavor, a project of which we find ourselves excited by the unexpected pleasure and joy. But as all things in nature subside, this too shall find its crest and then it’s trough. And the reactivation of the crest is often where we get stuck. In this same way, we might find ourselves trying to re-live and recreate the wave of joy. But more often, what we find is that unique aliveness that was once experienced wanes to the point that we can be mystified over what happened and why the relationship, or experience, or form of art no longer contains the same potency. Here too, we must surrender, by taking in what has been, learn from it, find a source of gratitude within us in being met by the experience, and then kindly place it down, empty, to turn to what is before us. In either case, pleasure or pain, by placing it down, we are admitting to a deep sense of trust in ourselves and the universe meeting us where we are. We lack the control we often believe we need to exert to make life happen for us, and place our hands on the pulse of what naturally is happening for and through us. This is an ultimate trust in the unfolding nature of our cyclical and magical lives. We are not here on accident, what happens is not a punishment, we are not at fault, we didn’t do anything wrong, the universe doesn’t give us pleasures and take them away, things do not happen by chance and then forget about us. By placing things down, we open ourselves to a natural flow, untethering our psyches from what we think should be happening, or untethering from a seeming conundrum, and giving love and heart to the next best step in our lives presenting itself before our feet. Have you ever noticed yourself being unexpectedly surprised once placing down something which you have been clenching, the unexpected freedom, or unexpected new moment of seeing clearly, refreshed, or rejuvenated, or even the unexpected joy once accepting a deep sorrow fully? Simple, but so difficult to do, particularly when we are feeling loss, under pressure, or confused over a decision that seems to need to be made in the moment. Pressure, is always a moment, to pause, and breath, and wait. But every choice gets you some place, and every path taken shows another angle on the needed experience or lesson at hand, even if that lesson is trying to tell you, you are done. The universe knows exactly where we are on our journey, meeting us, at all times where we are. There are no wrong steps, only an unfolding of a relationship between our explorative curious selves, and the fate of our deepest heartfelt missions. …and yet, we don’t need to let go before we are ready, before we sense the support available to us, before turning to that support in order to take that step, which is always the one next step of an unfolding process. All love, Andrea Our home environment is a facet and an extension of our inner selves, the place that expresses our inner natures and the environment we feel most at home to within ourselves.
Many of us judge either ourselves or others on this inner landscape, of being unkempt, or too tidy, eclectic, culturally varied, stark, random, focused on function or beauty. But from a different angle, are we not all trying to understand and create a sense of welcome of our unique ways, to acknowledge externally the identity we are portraying to both ourselves and others, a home base that feels familiar and stable amidst a diversely, ever changing, complex world that endlessly surprises and at times frightens or overwhelms us? And maybe you will notice, in home environments most family to you, you feel more at ease, and yet there are other home environments where, although not your norm or particular taste, you still appreciate-whether it be a home of an interior decorator where you can appreciate the esthetic technique, or the home of a friend with days worth of clothes strewn around, partially completed projects and children’s or pet toys scattered about -where you have a sense of life and love being lived fully and embraced. How many people either apologize for their home environment, or the opposite-proudly take you on a tour? This quirky aspect of our humanity, rather than to be judged or criticized may be more satisfying to be taken in as another expression of our own or another’s inner world or artistry, something to be honored and appreciated for the infinite ways we learn to inhabit our lives, the gift and opportunity to have a peak inside of another's inner story, or the courage to open our own doors to the eyes, ears, and senses of someone taking in an intimate part of how we navigate our lives, and what is happening inside. This isn't to say that someone with a tidy home has everything in its place internally, but perhaps they are attempting such, or prefer the simplicity of an esthetic view and value beauty. Of course, there are numerous perspectives of what a home environment could be a symbol of, as many as there are personalities. What would it be like, to invite people over, one, two friends, or a group, without changing a thing, but to notice how we respond to what we feel, see and hear when others enter our home? Do we explain, apologize, are we proud, do we care, do they? Do we respond differently to different people who enter our home? Wherever you are, work with that, inquire there. All love, Andrea |
AuthorAs a person who is highly interested in the inner landscape through interaction with the external, I find it invaluable to express these experiences. Here, a collection of musings; experiments, potential truths, and ultimately, my unique pathway of creative learning and growth. Blog and website edited by scholar, literary enthusiast, horticulturist and friend Peter Dryden.
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