Treading the Path of Courage & Curious Daring

The Atlantic Ocean @ Sunset. Thanks Chris!

When I was younger — and, if I am honest, I still have the twinges — I was envious of prophets.  The way they connect to the Sacred just amazes me.  I am in awe of how their curious daring opens them to see the extraordinary instead of the mundane.  The courage a prophet shows when sharing her/his experiences reflects a depth of inner peace. Prophets model a profound, intimate connection to the Sacred.

But, now I find myself asking questions:  Does a prophet have some special connection to the Divine that I can only dream of? Is he or she really so different from me?

I found the question underlying these question lodged deeply within my heart:  Do I have a prophetic nature?

I discovered the answer to the question of my heart by using both my head and my heart.  A prophet has nurtured the environment of silence in his/her quiet mind.   Within this silence, a prophet looks beyond the superficial facts and the mundane world while understanding that things are often not as they appear.  Here within the silence of the quiet mind tough questions are asked, and the answers are patiently waited for.  S/he receives the answers, and Divine Grace flows through him/her.  This Divine Grace is the impetus for his/her response.  Any response of a prophet is always the result of a reflective process.

It seems that prophetic experience has five profound steps.  It begins with the intent to live fully to her/his life purpose.  Next, a prophet meditates or is mindfully aware of the presence of the Sacred in her/his life.  Prayer is integral — it is the way a prophet communicates her/his desire to be filled with Divine Grace.  After the prayerful request, comes the time of waiting.  Contemplation is the sitting in silence while waiting patiently for the response. Finally, with courage daring and courage a prophet acts upon what s/he has received.

I believe that each of us has a prophetic nature. We are called to live from this place by questioning without judgment or defensiveness what is occurring in our unfolding life. When we listen with the ear of our heart (full body listening), we are given the sustenance to experience our prophetic nature and share our messages with the world.

As prophets, we know that the question is as important as the answer. We realize that both have the potential to transform our personal life and the world around us. A prophetic life is radically lived with the willingness  to follow the call of divine wisdom.

How are you living from your prophetic nature?

It's All Good! Vanessa

www.healingwillow.com

Donning the Mantle of Intent

image courtesy of bulldogza/freedigitalphotos.net

Waking up in the morning I shake off the residue of sleep and feel the last remnants of my dreams slip from my conscious mind. This morning I chuckled as the song “Happy” danced through my head. What a great way to start the morning I thought to myself.  And, the dancing music was a most welcome harbinger for the day.

In those first moments of waking, I become aware of me in the present moment.  As I linger in the land between here and there, my breathing becomes the bridge upon which I travel from sleep to wakeful awareness. With each breath I let go of a bit more of my ethereal nighttime world and ground myself into the present, physical reality.

As my thoughts turn to the day ahead, I decide upon the intent that will be my fellow sojourner this day.  My intent is the mantle of being/doing that I throw across my metaphoric shoulders. Lately this mantle has been one of the healer. It is dusted with the iridescent compassion sparkleys that twinkle against the midnight dark silence of my quiet mind. As each star twinkles, so grows my intent to be a healing presence. And, as this intent grows it spills out into my actions. Through intent and action I navigate my world.

During this navigation I may find the gentle tone needed to soothe a harried traveler or a kind gesture that shifts the tone of another’s day. My words may shift another’s perspective or a simple action may right that person’s world. My words, actions, and thoughts can be healing to me as well. My goal is to be a part of bringing myself, others, and the world to wholeness through my thoughts, words, and actions.

Healing — each of us can and do provide loving, healing grace through our words, our thoughts, gentle gazes, and through each compassionate act. Every moment of every day provides opportunities for us to be conduits of great healing or hurt. It is all a choice. We choose to be healers or destroyers. This choice begins when we wake in the morning and decide what mantle to don.

What is your mantle of intent?

Vanessa

www.healingwillow.com

All Will Be Well Or So Julian Says

Image courtesy of Hordur Vilhjalmsson/freedigitalphotos.net

Recently I was talking to a friend as she was waiting for the results of her medical tests. I texted her, “Julian says all will be well.” And, all will be well came for her in the form of negative, disease-free test results.

Later I found myself reflecting on the second half of that quote from Julian of Norwich, “in the manner of all things all will be well.” I wondered that if I truly believed all would be well, how do I find the “well” amid the turmoil and tumult in my life? In those moments I am challenged to look beyond the discord and find the pockets of grace — those pockets of “well-ness.” Often I discover these pockets by reframing the challenges — finding and celebrating the positive even if it is to recognize that the outcome could have been worse. Re-patterning is finding the grace in increments.

Early this summer I was called the “queen of spin” because I reframed some not-so-sweet happening in order to reveal the grace that lay waiting to be discovered under the muck. For me, the search for the grace was a choice: I could choose to flop around in the mud and wait for a miraculous downpour to wash my life clean of the challenge.  Or, I could experience the muckiness and discover the beauty and grace that lay hidden just beyond my misery.

When I allow myself to wallow in the muck, eventually the sun comes out. That pesky sun dries the mud. Have you tried to dig yourself out of dirt, hardened clay? Not a pleasant or easy proposition. Instead of waiting, I can proactively take a long, loving look at the muddy real and search intently in “the manner of all things” for what is well.

Image courtesy of
gubgib/freedigitalphotos.net

In those moments when I look beyond the surface and discover the benefits hidden in the mud, I am amazed at what I see. The mud is not just a goopy-filled watering hole. The mud is something to apply like a clay facial. A clay masque applied to your skin has many benefits. As it hardens, impurities are drawn out and our skin is firmed and toned.

After the facial, I shine with the same internal light, but the illumination is cast is a different, profound way. I am touched in grace-filled ways by the mud that hardened and then washed away.

What is being released and revealed by the mud of your challenges?

In the manner of all things how are you well?

Peace & All Good, Vanessa

www.healingwillow.com

Intuition: Activating Our Inner Knowing

Photo courtesy of nirots/freedigitalphotos.net

Sometimes when I sit quietly, I hear the wind whispering through the willow branches in my quiet mind.  In the silence the sounds become comprehensible, and my intuition translates the rustling rub of leaves. In this interpretation, I know and trust in this gentle knowing.

I have been asked if intuition was an innate talent or a learned skilled. The answer? While some may be born with a greater ability to recognize and respond to intuition, we all have the capacity to nurture a garden of blooming intuition. The fruits of intuition, like the fruits of the garden can only be harvested at the right time. This time? The present moment.

What are the keys to unlocking the gate of your intuition, entering the garden of knowing, and reaping the fruits of intuition? Being awake, being aware, and being alive unlock the gate, scatter the seeds, and nourish them to fruition.

The first key, being awake, has less to do with physically snoozing and has more with being fully present in the moment. Being awake means you no longer consciously lose time moving from point A to point B. Threads of conversations are not lost. All your interactions are consciously engaged. You listen with the ear of your heart.

Being awake is the foundation of being aware. Not only are you fully present to each activity, but you also hear the nuances of what is being said and notice what is not said. Life is experienced with all of your senses. When we are awake, and our senses engaged; intuition rises to the surface of our silence. Within the quiet mind we sense the message of the rubbing leaves and translate it into an understandable language.

Intuition acknowledged and translated may languish in our quiet mind unless we are fully alive. The next key is to activate our inner knowing. Simply put, the roots of our actions and words are based in those intuitive nudges. Fully alive requires that we courageously engage and act with curious daring. There is no room for fear or temerity. Intuition guides us into compassionate response. Denying our intuitive nudges creates the environment of fear-filled reaction.

Intuition lies dormant within us until we awake. When we are aware, it gently bubbles to the surface. We open our eyes and our ears to understand the melody of the bubbles reaching the surface. We are alive and respond with the effervescence of joy. Intuition asks, “How can we not respond to the gentle nudges of Spirit guiding us along the path?”

Awake, aware, alive we experience a life without boundaries and full of hints to navigate our challenges. Intuition — an innate talent, a learned skilled — is our companion and earnest guide.

How do listen to your intuition?

Peace & All Good,

Vanessa

www.healingwillow.com

Boulder or Pebble?

Splash! Heave a boulder into a pond, and we will get drenched with the backsplash. Toss a pebble into the same pond. A drop or two of water may land on us. Life challenges are like the crash of a boulder or a drop of a pebble. It all depends upon our perception. By shifting our perception, we can view a challenge not as a burden but as an opportunity to deepen awareness of our life purpose.

When the emotions triggered by a challenge overwhelm us; the challenge seems insurmountable. We are unable to get past the façade of the boulder. By peering closely into the challenge we see that the boulder is, in fact, only an inflamed pebble. While a pebble may be an aggravation, it is small enough to resolve.  

With our perception shift, the boulder diminishes to pebble size; something we can hold lightly in the palm of our hand. We hold the pebble and become aware of its weight, size, and shape. We toss the pebble and create a new rhythm of our life. This pebble of challenge becomes our dance partner. We learn the lesson through the dance.

In the final dance steps, the music of the pond calls to us. With a flick of our wrist, the pebble sails from our hand into the pond. It skips across the water. One, two, three…do you see? Lessons learned; no bridges burned — only wondrous light of the iridescent glow of accomplishment settles into our being.

Boulders or stones…the lesson is the same lesson no matter how we perceive the package. Challenges don’t exist to bring us to despair; challenges are full of inspirations that bring us joy and growth.

What does the vehicle of your challenges hold?

Vanessa

www.healingwillow.com