Tagore’s Bird & Messages in the Rain

Sometimes we need to know we won’t languish in the dark forever; that the dawn is coming.

We need only to listen to our intuition to take the next step.

Tagore’s Bird & Messages in the Rain

It’s raining. I can hear the splattering — not a rumbling  that brings me into alert awareness but a gentle nudge urging me to pay attention. Of course, this rain is not hard enough to wash away the grunge of the past days. It is a pattering that dampens the landscape. Peering into the dark, I look at the rain drenched wonder with new eyes.  

My eyes alight on a soggy piles of autumn leaves. I imagine that in the morning the sun will beam its splendor on those leaves. I imagine the lumpy, wet pile of leaves transformed into a glittering wetness of many colors that fill my nose with the earthy smell of change. For now, that pile of leaves is shrouded in shadows for the moon is hidden by heavy clouds.  But, the night will not last forever. The world, and I will see the light again. 

Tonight I cannot see through the shadows cast. I can only feel the tears raining down upon a grieving world. I can only trust that the grime of grief is being washed away splatter by rain splatter. The rain and tomorrow’s sun will sing the day into being. I live in anticipation of the sun that casts a newness, a hope, upon the world. As I listen, I hear the words that invite me to shed my old, tired being and give birth to the light that shines within. Within this light is a spark of hope.

In this moment I am not yet Tagore’s bird, for the dawn is still elusive and I cannot muster the energy to sing my song. But, I can use the light within to find my way from here to there as the drip, drip, drip calls out to me. Trust. Hope. Know. Come. Curious I know not what I will find as I take daring step upon daring step, but my song sings courage. I cannot, will not ignore the call to be, once more, myself. 

No matter how dark, no matter how rainy, life is in the exploration. So, it doesn’t matter if I cannot sing knowing the sun will shine once more. What matters is that I do not give up. What matters is that I ignite my fierce spark of daring, of courage, of truth within me. 

So, for tonight, I wonder at the message of the rain. I know that the message is important. How could I not be so earnestly drawn to something unless it holds a message for me? So, I trust. Perhaps after all, I am that bird that sings when the dawn is still dark. For I listen to the rain whispering. It says to me, “sometimes you cannot wash away everything and start anew. Sometimes it is about gaining a new perspective, finding your bearings, and journeying into another day.” 

Wishing you a bit of Tagore’s bird and messages in the rain.  

Vanessa F. Hurst, ms, is an Intuitive-Coach-Catalyst, who uses mindfulness practices and intuition tools to create strategies for personal and relationship transformation. She is a professional speaker & author who weaves inner wisdom into all she touches. Her books are available @ www.wildefyrpress.com. Her most recent book, As Natural As Breathing: Being Intuitive, is available on Amazon. Contact Vanessa for life coaching, intuitive consultations, keynotes, and programs.

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Twitter: @fyrserpent / ©2020

Are We There Yet: Mindfulness & The Waning Months of 2020

Will this road trip of 2020 ever end? & what can we do during the wanting months? Watch this week's I&A vlog!

Are We There Yet?

Have you ever taken a longish journey with a child? Before setting out, you put stuff  every distraction imaginable into the backseat with them. Then, you cruise along dreading the inevitable. Waiting to hear those four words: “Are we there yet?” 

If you are like me at this point in 2020, you feel like that small child wondering if we will every put this year behind us and get to the destination — 2021. You may even be hopeful and excited about what the new year will bring. I know that I am. But, there have been silver linings in 2020. It has been filled with lots of intuitive messages and plenty of distractions. I still cannot wait to stretch my legs into the hope that 2021 brings. 

Again, if you are like me, that last stretch of the journey is what proves most daunting. I am fatigued. Most of my friends, colleagues, and clients are too. I find myself wondering if I can muster the strength, the energy, the hope to make it through these last waning weeks. Then I remind myself that the journey is undertaken mile ma
rker by mile marker. Mindfulness techniques, contemplative practice, and intuitive understanding pave the way through this waning year into the waxing next. The key? Living in awareness in order to recognize the impact of each moment.

How do we pave the path with mindfulness techniques, contemplative practice, and intuitive understanding? 

• Mindfulness techniques: my go-to technique is focusing on my breath. Through it, I settle into the moment thus increasing my awareness of this stretch of the road. I connect more fully to my body, hear my thoughts, attend to the impact of my emotions. My breath forges a path where my contemplative spirit flourishes.
• Contemplative practice: for me, there is a blurred area between mindfulness techniques and contemplative practice. When I am contemplative, I focus on the moment. I intentionally travel the final stretch of 2020 attuned to what is occurring. With this awareness, I use my energy wisely and respond. 
• Intuitive understanding: when I am contemplative, the world comes alive in extraordinary ways. I truly experience each step holistically — with my body, mind, spirit, and heart. My senses come alive with the voices of intuition. In the moment, I use these messages to navigate the gateway between now and then.

We need not trudge this last stretch of 2020 exhausted and fearful. Instead, we can mindfully, contemplatively, intuitively journey through our interactions with the internal and external worlds. With this triad of mindfulness, contemplation, and intuition we navigate through the uncertainty and respond to the world. While we might not be “there yet,” we are enjoying the journey through this waning year.

 

Vanessa F. Hurst, ms, is an Intuitive-Coach-Catalyst, who uses mindfulness practices and intuition tools to create strategies for personal and relationship transformation. She is a professional speaker & author who weaves inner wisdom into all she touches. Her books are available @ www.wildefyrpress.com. Her most recent book, As Natural As Breathing: Being Intuitive, is available on Amazon. Contact Vanessa for life coaching, intuitive consultations, keynotes, and programs.

Website / LinkedIn Profile / Facebook / @fyrserpent / ©2020

A Day Unlike Any Other

As I look outside, I realize that soon all the leaves will  have transitioned to a carpet of detritus crackling as the squirrels dance through it. But, that is soon — not today. Today is a day unlike any other. It has never been before and shall never be repeated. In this knowing is a letting go. Today is a letting go that lays bare what was and invites us into deep contemplation of what truly is. 

What is true for you? Sometimes we spend so much time chasing the illusive that we lose sight of who we are in the moment on this unfolding journey. As a friend told me — we’ve got to stop chasing the next shiny thing and be who we are. In the chasing we fail to realize that shiny thing may be what we want but not what we need. It is not a reflection of who we are; it is an illusion of how we want things to be.

Letting go creates this wide, wondrous, expansive space of exploration. Within it we are free — that thing, that person, that situation no longer hauntingly clings to us. Breathing into this space stirs motes of possibility. In deep reflection we notice how our divine sparks glint off these motes. Through discernment, we choose which motes to make our own.

To separate the shiny things and the motes of possibility by letting go takes courage and resolve — both fuel discernment or decision making through deep contemplation. Discernment is a heart-head activity the integrates reflection with introspection. We dive deep into who we are — our beliefs, motives, judgments, agendas — and in this knowing, step more fully, more firmly into who we are. 

Letting go is an outward expression of non-attachment. But, we don’t stop there. In addition to being nonattached, we reflect without judging or defending. We recognize that life is not a rigid road that takes us from here to there. Life is organic and evolving. It grows even when we are not paying attention. Though discernment we trace its course and decide our next steps. We open to what is occurring.

We create a wonderland by letting go. Here we have the courage to face our fears and the resolve to discover our path step by step. That is what is important. There are so many possibilities out there. How many of them look great on paper but just don’t resonate with us? Unless we let go, we are unable to truly discern what is really possible and what is wishful thinking. 

Today is a day unlike any other. In this moment what do you choose to let go? How is that letting  go instrumental to moving forward? 

Vanessa F. Hurst, ms, is an Intuitive-Coach-Catalyst, who uses mindfulness practices and intuition tools to create strategies for personal and relationship transformation. She is a professional speaker & author who weaves inner wisdom into all she touches. Her books are available @ www.wildefyrpress.com. Contact Vanessa for life coaching, intuitive consultations, keynotes, and programs.

Website / LinkedIn Profile / Facebook / @fyrserpent / ©2020

 

Real Beliefs, Shadow Beliefs: Growing In the Garden of You

Beliefs are curious things. They speak to us from the depths of our being . Each whispering is a reflection of who we are. They provide limitless opportunities to share the truth within. Each belief is a stone in the foundation of how we engage others.

I don’t know about you, but these past several years have given me ample opportunities to survey my foundation. To name what I believe — to rejoice in what is truly me and confront those shadows that tangle deep inside me. I recognize that these tangles are not who I am. Instead, they provide the arena to unravel the shadows. Once free of the tangles I can truly live my true story.

Once in a class longer ago than I like to admit, I told the participants that only when I am embarrassed by an action stemming from a shadow belief, do I have the energy and courage to change. The response was a tittering of unease. But, think about it. What happens when you really own the truth? Who we are is birthed by being uncomfortable enough to change. 

Let that sink into the depth of your core. Then ask yourself, “When was I so uncomfortable that change was inevitable?” Name the shadow belief that was too tight, too raw, so totally not you that it left you gasping for breath. What did you do? Invite change or hide within its shadows?

Now, I am not a proponent of running through the streets shouting my sins — I mean fallibilities. I am not that public. No, I am the quiet sort who turns within and experiences the stuff seeping from my core. Through reflection and introspection, I listen to the lessons of the seepage. Then I use the resulting compost to nourish my truth. The rest of the compost I toss into a communal bin to be used at later time. 

The benefit of the last four years, and I am all about the reframe, is the number of opportunities I have had to dig up the ground of me, to pull up those invasive shadow beliefs, and plant seeds of who I am. I hope you have had the opportunities to do the same. 

What have I discovered in this process? The work is not in the harvest but in the nurturing of these seed beliefs. So, in this moment I ask, “What invasive beliefs am I ready to pull out? What do I truly believe?” Within those  answers is found the stuff — the compost and the seeds to grow the garden of you. 

Vanessa F. Hurst, ms, is an Intuitive-Coach-Catalyst, who uses mindfulness practices and intuition tools to create strategies for personal and relationship transformation. She is a professional speaker & author who weaves inner wisdom into all she touches. Her books are available @ www.wildefyrpress.com. Contact Vanessa for life coaching, intuitive consultations, keynotes, and programs.

Website / LinkedIn Profile / Facebook / Twitter: @fyrserpent / ©2020