Silence is the Night Sky

 The night is dark. Look into the indigo sky. The night is silence. Breathe in the quiet embrace. The night is twinkling. Feel the connection of each sparkling star. The night is dark. You are surrounded by it.

The sky is the realm of magic. As the world turns and daylight breaks, the sky streaks with red. The paling sky welcomes us to begin anew. Its palette shifts to brilliant blue as the sun edges across the the day. Clouds float across the sky. Distracted by happenings, we drift through the moments like those clouds. We lose the wonder and awe of sky’s presence. Soon the sky turns from brilliant blue to streaks of red and orange. The sun dips beyond the horizon. The twilight gives way to inky blackness. 

Night beckons us to rest in its dark embrace. Our sight is partially obscured. Perceptions slightly skewed, we enter into a new Real. We wake to a new way of sensing. We are no longer able to depend primarily upon our eyes, we listen with the ears of our body. The wind speaks through a gentle touch, and we feel the song of the night creatures. Our imagination paints a picture of what truly is. 

The inky night sky reminds me of silence. Not the silence of being sushed mute by another. This is the silence that quiets the soul. In this inky dark silence we rest and our heart calms.

This night sky silence is an environment where all our inner sparkling is held in a safe embrace. And, as we rest, we hear in ways that bring bursts of unexpected clarity.  This silent darkness calls us to wake into our self.

Like those stars that we would not see without the inky black, our understanding would not shine so brightly without silence’s embrace. We would not be mindfully aware of all life offers without silence as an anchor. Through the vastness of silence, we can be our self — that ember that glows in the center of our being. And, in being our self, we connect with others authentic heart to authentic heart. Our compassionate spirit thrives. 

Because that is what this night sky of silence is. It is a place where I name my illusions and recognize how they warp authentic reality. No one else is in the darkness as I let go the illusions and firmly grasp who I truly are. I can be my best, truest self because in this silence who can really see? I am freed by wrapping myself in the courage’s embrace while giving full rein to curious daring. Within the silence I can be me and grow in comfort of sharing this me with you.

The night is dark. Sitting outside, the city noises of my distractions, are muted. As I draw deeper into the quiet, those hazy lights become inconsequential. I can feel the darkness reach through my light pollution and connect with the glowing spark ember inside. This spark flares resonating with the twinkling in the night sky. In alignment with the smattering of night sky knowing, I am filled with clarity. This dark night silence is a beacon that guides me to myself. 

Vanessa F. Hurst, ms, is a Mindful Coach, Compassion Consultant, Professional Speaker, and Author who weaves her inner wisdom into all she touches. Contact Vanessa @ hurst.vanessa@gmail.com

Her books are A Constellation of Connections: Contemplative Relationships and Engaging Compassion Through Intent & Action.

More from Vanessa: www.intentandaction.com

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Intent & Action: The Bridge

What is your intent? Do you have one? I won’t forget the interview in which I was asked if I believed people set their intent. I had always thought so; the interviewer did not. So, after the television spot, I informally surveyed a number of people. What did I discover? Although many people do not formally set intent, they do so in unconscious and informal ways. 

Our intent is our aim, purpose, or something we would like to achieve. Maybe it is a goal specific for the day. This kind of intent is soul deep. It supersedes our short term goals and many of our long term ones. You could ask yourself, “At the end of my life, how would I want people to remember me?” That answer is integral to your life intent. 

For many, their intent is to follow the golden rule — do unto others, cause no harm, love thy neighbor are three renditions. This sounds simpler that it is. I cannot count the number of times my actions have not reflected my intent. When my intent is out of sync with my actions, I have a choice. I can throw up my hands in the face of this adversity or I can accept responsibility for my behavior. 

Accepting my responsibility is only possible with self compassion. Instead of harming myself with critical thoughts or words, I alleviate my personal suffering. In doing so, I clear the connection between my intent and action. I am able to refocus my intent and lay tiles upon the bridge of my intent and action.

In my book, Engaging Compassion Through Intent and Action, I share a template for building a bridge that connects who we are in the core of our being with our action. This bridge provides elements that help us focus our awareness, live in the moment, and understand our self. We are encouraged to be courageous and curiously daring as we mindfully take an intentional look at our life. We maintain our bridge through contemplative practices that develops mindfulness. 

You may ask yourself, “What is my intent?” Perhaps it is a spontaneous knowing that you easily name, or you may need to sit quietly and, through reflection, allow it to rise to the surface of your consciousness. A few moments of focused attention — either sitting meditation or attending to your breath — releases your distractions and enables you to name the intent that rests in the core of your being. After realizing your intent, allow it to resonate into your being orally, through the written word, or through artistic expression.

Throughout the day be conscious about how you lay the tiles on your deck of your bridge of intent and action. When you notice that your actions are drifting away from your intent, return to your breath. It roots you firmly in the moment and creates an environment of choice. Rest at the foundation of your awareness. Commit to your intent. Act upon your intent.

It does not matter how often your intent misaligns with your actions. What matters is that you are consciously aware of those moments when your actions do not sync with your intent. What matters is that you consciously, intentionally refocus so that your actions mirror your intent. Through the refocusing, you engaging your compassion through intent and action. 

For more information about building a bridge between intent and action, read Engaging Compassion Through Intent and Action. 

Vanessa F. Hurst, ms, is a Mindful Coach, Compassion Consultant, Professional Speaker, and Author who weaves her inner wisdom into all she touches. Contact Vanessa

Her books are A Constellation of Connections: Contemplative Relationships and Engaging Compassion Through Intent & Action.

More from Vanessa:

www.intentandaction.com 

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Twitter: @fyrserpent

Intent & Action: Living With Our Eyes Open

The world isn’t so gray any more. The world is becoming green against a backdrop of grayish-brown. The tiny green buds are popping from the trees. Each tiny bud, in its own time, unfurls to become a leaf. Hope appearing after a bleak winter filled with too much and not enough. No matter what we found lacking or in overabundance, within this winter, like all dormant times, is the promise of spring. 

I remember quite a few springs ago vacationing in Michigan. My friend and I were taking a hike, and he spied a wild mushroom. After that discovery, it didn’t take long for my eyes to adjust to the landscape. When I opened my eyes to see, those morels were hiding everywhere in plain sight. Seeing in a different way provided an abundance of morels to feast upon that evening.

I remember that morel hunting when I am overwhelmed by the bleakness of winter. During those times that we feel trapped in the winter of our soul, we miss those minute, hidden signs of spring. Our life is seldom as barren as we believe. We have only to shift the way we perceive our world in order to find a spring waiting to bud and unfurl into abundance in our life. These miracles that are hiding in plain sight are evident when we open our eyes and see. 

Living with our eyes wide open occurs when we foster an environment of silence. Here we do not live in a cessation of physical noise; rather, we quiet our minds and listen both internally and externally. We are mindful as we listen to our internal conversations — what our thoughts are saying and how our emotions are manifesting. We attend to what our physical body is telling us. Externally we pay attention to the world around us — not only the words of another but all that is occurring. 

In this place of silence we more fully connect to our divine spark. This is our wisdom space where our ability to see past the mundane and see the promise in the world rests. Our inner wisdom shifts our attention so that we see the iridescent sparklies of the sacred. Cloaked in silence we see clearly beyond the barren and into what really is. We mindfully act in ways that bring beauty in response to our inner wisdom.

Each time we see past the mundane, we strengthen our mindful stance. Mindfulness is key to listening to our inner wisdom or that voice that speaks with all of our senses. Listening with intent, we can formulate our compassionate response to the world. We approach the barren in a different way. It no longer is an adversary but a place of possibility.

How can we be loving and gentle and kind knowing that we may never change those barren aspects? We acknowledge that the world will always have barren spaces. When we approach them with love, we recognize that while we may not be able to shift that gray, we can have compassion for it. In doing so, find those minute signs for our self and for others in the world. And, over time, those barren parts of our life with be overrun by the creeping vines of abundance. 

Vanessa F. Hurst, ms,  is a Mindful Coach, Compassion Consultant, Professional Speaker, and Author who interweaves her inner wisdom in all she touches. Contact Vanessa

Her books are A Constellation of Connections: Contemplative Relationships and Engaging Compassion Through Intent & Action.

More from Vanessa: www.intentandaction.com

Today Is The Day

Today is the day. No more procrastination. No more excuses. No more stuck in who I am so that I forget  who you are. Today is the day to be my authentic self so you can shine your authenticity. Today is my day…and yours.

We have been collectively shaken awake. No longer living in a world where everything is okay, we cannot longer afford to be wrapped in the comfortable blanket of our illusions. Wide awake, we notice that while we thought we were wrapped in a comforting blanket; in fact, we have been embedded in the cracks of a shattered window of illusions. Not only is everything not okay, we are pushed from complacency and propelled into the uncertain.

No longer content to walk this field of life, our authentic self demands we be change agents. In fact, our hands itch to turn over the soil in the ground of our being and plant seeds of a new, better way. We ask our self, “What are the little things — what seeds can I plant today that will bear fruit in the tomorrows?” And, then, carefully picking through the seeds, we cast aside those that are illusion-bearing. With each seed set aside, we agree to stop living with illusions and honestly walk our soul talk. 

Choosing seeds take courage. We have no real idea what relationships might fall away when we stop being what we are not what the ground of our being calls us to be. It takes more than a little courage and a lot of curious daring to take the next step as we plant those seeds of authentic presence. And, it takes daily doses of self compassion to nurture the seedlings into full growth. 

Seeds planted, we do not stop tending to the garden of our spirit. We weed and water as we remove the illusions and bring life to who we truly are. Although we are not quite sure exactly what we are growing, we trust that with curious daring and courage we will see our transformation from seed to authentically flourishing garden.

During growth, we breath deeply of the fecundity in our spirit. The roots grow deeply to stabilize who we authentically know our self to be. Awash in the growing abundance, it becomes easier to let go the harsh words and actions of our self and others. We see our self and others clearly and respond with clarity. 

With clarity comes choice. We decide what to allow, the authentic or the illusion, into the garden of our spirit. We decide whether to welcome the purity of intent or the pollution of illusion. We choose. And, in choosing, we let go of our preconceived notions and perceptions of how our life needs to look. We let go of people, situations, and circumstances that no longer have a place in our garden. 

Weeding is perhaps the most difficult part of gardening for authenticity. Each weed pulled creates suffering. It if often difficult to let go of illusions that are comfortable even when they are not life giving. When we let go of illusions, each plucked week becomes compost — the stuff born of suffering nourishes our ground and provides the sustenance of transformation. 

We have been collectively shaken awake. We are aware of the blight in the gardens of our individual souls and in the garden of our collective spirit. Do. Not. Go. Back. To. Sleep. Apprentices, Journey(wo)men, and Master Gardeners alike have many rows to till and seeds to plant. Let’s get started in letting go of the illusions and nurturing what is real. 

Let’s be authentically awake and courageously compassionate as we tend an inclusive garden where are all welcome. 

Vanessa F. Hurst, ms,  is a Mindful Coach, Compassion Consultant, Professional Speaker, and Author who interweaves her inner wisdom in all she touches. Contact Vanessa

Her books are A Constellation of Connections: Contemplative Relationships and Engaging Compassion Through Intent & Action.

More from Vanessa: www.intentandaction.com