Sparks in Wisdom's Fire: 2021

Tuesday, December 28, 2021

A Tale of Tattered Edges

In the quiet of the moment, in the stillness of the night, I hear the determined uttering of calm in a chaotic me.

Yeah, you heard/read that right — chaotic me. I bet you thought I was going to say chaotic world. I thought about it. Then I realized the chaos of the world wouldn’t impact me so much if I was calm at my core.

The eye of a hurricane. That is what the core is. I wish to be within the calmness of the core as the storm rages around. I realize that as the storm encroaches my core, the edges get a bit tattered. That is inevitable. But, when my spiritual core is strong, I notice the tattering before it destroys too much of my core. With that noticing, I turn within. Awareness, I listen to rustling of calm.

Let’s talk first about how to cultivate calm. Within each of use is a kernel of calm, a sacred spark that ignites our awareness and awakens our objective observer. While our objective observer is always present, It take time and lots of effort to cultivate a connection to the calm — the power behind our awareness. It takes awareness to minimize the impact of irritation, aggravation, fear, and anger — the winds of storm that batter the edges of our core.

So, how do we mitigate the effects of the storm’s ravaging to move into stronger connection to our core? How do we cultivate calm? It is all about being awaken and aware. Until we consciously attend to the world around us, we miss what we judge as good, bad, and indifferent. With awareness we move away from the labels into understanding how these emotions and situations trigger feelings in us.

My goal, one day, is to be so awake, so aware that I live totally in the rolling moments. That I do not hold on to past hurts or am poised to leap into a hoped for future. To be here now and respond in ways that recognize the beauty in me. And the recognition powers the connection to my core.

And, the really cool thing? Through my core, I connect to the sacred, others, and all of creation. Through my core I am part of the Great All. Within my core beats the courage to venture into the brewing storm knowing that it can only superficially touch me. The core affirms that I am invincibly calm and prepared to respond to whatever life presents.

Cultivating calm isn’t easy. In fact, it is really hard. Cultivating calm is a moment-by-moment, lifelong endeavor. It requires that we attend to what is happening in the world and what is happening in our self. Bi-listening you are fully engaged internally and externally. I would even say that when you are bi-listening you have mastered the art of bilocation!

The key to cultivating calm and strengthening your connection to the core is living in the moment. Not holding on. Not pushing away. Acknowledging not absorbing distractions. Not acting out of judgment. Being nonviolent. Being in the determined calm is attending to who you are moment by moment.

In the storm-filled tattered edges, I wish you moments of determined calm.

Van Hurst, ms, is an intuitive-coach-catalyst. As a contemplative coach, she uses mindfulness practices and intuition tools to create strategies for navigating those places may scare us. The result of time with Van? Creating a blueprint for your life through a deeper connection to your intuition and contemplative nature.

Van 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.

Tuesday, December 21, 2021

The Great Unknown

I woke to the silence of predawn wrapping gently around me. A voice lifted me into wakefulness. “It is time.” In those almost wake moments, I felt something greater than me flare in my core. Surrounded by its dark embrace, I recognized the Great Unknown was not out there; it is within me.”

The Great Unknown…what is this? For me, it is a conundrum. It feels familiar yet alien. It calls to me in a language that I feel I should understand yet the words and images are incomprehensible until I respond. This response is formed unconsciously with my intuition.

At times I am still surprised by my intuitive understanding of the rhythms of life speaking to me from the Great Unknown. The waning and waxing. The letting go and taking on. The death and rebirth. Those things are both disconcerting and scary as they call to me from the Great Unknown. But, my intuition smooths the fear and brings clarity amid the uncertainty.

How does your perception change when you realize that the Great Unknown is not some nebulous thing out there, but rests within you? What changes when you recognize it wrapping you in an embrace from within. Maybe that knowing is a bit disconcerting, but it also feels familiar. The Great Unknown is a curiosity that beats from the center of my being. It invites me to discover the parts of me long obscured by fear.

Aren’t you curious to know more about your connection to that space? The absolute wonder of your intuition as it translates and responds to the Great Unknown? The whispers that sound from within inviting you into wholeness?

Connecting and wholeness are necessary parts of healing. Maybe that is what the great unknown is — the ultimate healer. A place where you are made whole if you only have the courage to step within the unknown to face the joys, the sorrows, the angels, and the demons that walk with you.

How do you enter this space of mystery? There is no special path, no incantation, no magic that grants you entrance. For me, focusing on the breath connects me to the unknown. It gently wafts apart the veil between me and beyond. My breath is the pacesetter as I draw deeper into the unknown. It calms my mind, soothes my emotions, releases physical tensions. Through it I am aware and curious about what the Great Unknown will share with me.

Most important is my stance of communing with the mystery. Although I may want words, a message, an affirmation, I know that being embraced by the unknown in the moment may be exactly what I need. It isn’t about the message so much as about building relationship with this part of myself that is dark, mysterious, unknown.

Intentionally inviting the Great Unknown to walk with me opens the gateway of possibility. Recognizing the many ways mystery manifests throughout the day reveals the opportunities to deepen my awareness. With enhanced awareness I am better able to hear the many voices of the unknown.

Wishing you moments of connecting to the Great Unknown and discovering the wonder of you.

Tuesday, December 14, 2021

Have you noticed?

Have you noticed? The days are getting darker — there just aren’t enough hours of light at least for me. It is just sooooooo dark! Sometimes I find myself wondering at what goes bump in these dark nights. At other times I feel the velvety caress of the dark night comfort.

But, most of all, I’ve learned to breathe into these dark moments . In fact, I call these moments between times. Moments that provide opportunity to just be. To adjust to the time of dark. To listen to what is being uttered within the darkness. To find sparks of light within the dark. To grow into my truth.

Now, I am not saying that the dark isn’t a scary place. The not knowing aspect of the dark is disconcerting. What I am saying is that the dark is a place that calls us into awareness. An awareness that invites us to use all our senses. That means for many of us, using more than just our primary sense, our eyes.

Some of us, me included, spend so much time focusing on what our eyes see that we miss what is hiding in plain sight. In the dark, it is really easy to miss what we cannot perceive with our eyes — what is obscured by the dark. We need to learn to perceive with our other senses.

I remember a Merton quote: “it would be good if we would open our eyes and see.” I don’t think that he was talking about our physical eyes. I believe he was talking about using all our senses. Only when we engage in full body listening do we gain a better picture of what is occurring. Only when we use all our senses can we understand what is being shared.

Let’s return to the dark to engage in discovery of the messages within it. First name what emotion is spiking in you. If you can, resist the urge to react to what you are feeling. Resist the urge to turn on a light. Breathe into the dark. Using your all your senses, notice you are picking up. This is a noticing without expectation.

You may ask yourself:

What do you hear with your physical ears? What is your mind saying?
What do you see with your physical eyes? What is perceived by the eyes of your soul and heart?
What dances on your tastebuds?
What flows in and out of your nose?
What do you feel physically? How are your emotions, your other senses impacting your physical body?

Just notice. Within the noticing, intend to understand. You may receive a word, a phrase, an image — something else. Be in the wonder of receiving. And, then, sit in this between time with whatever you receive. You don’t need to make sense of it. Just trust when the time is right you will understand.

While the dark can be a scary place, it is also a place where we meet our true self. Within the dark, whispers of intuition surround us. The whispers pick us up, lift us into the sky of our soul where we catch the thermal and fly into who we are.

Tuesday, December 7, 2021

Courage & Compost Tea

It’s raining sheets of renewal washing away the person that I thought I was — the me that labors under the grime of illusion heaped upon me — by others and myself.

This isn’t gully washer rain. There is no flash flood warning in my soul. No, the rain is steady, cleansing. My soul takes a deep breath; the ground of my being inhales in the murky compost tea. Because, really, how can I grow into me without this rich brown compost tea created by misstep and learning?

Choice. I can stay inside this house built by illusion and battle the torrents of rain slipping through the worn slats into my house. With this choice, I hustle back and forth catching drops in a bucket. Or, I have another choice: I can step outside that house of illusions and into the fertile ground of what I believe. In that place, the rain pelts upon me awakening my true self.

But, stepping across that threshold is hard. I can feel my heart racing even as I think about what boogeymen wait for me across the threshold. Before my fear overwhelms me, I gather my courage, breathe in daring, and open wide my curious eyes. An inhale/exhale later, I am free of the house and my illusions as the rain pelts upon my being.

Once outside I explore the squishy ground and peer into the scrying puddles. Can I see my future in the rain splattering the murky water? Maybe. May not. But, in those silt filled puddles perhaps I can understand my past and see a way forward. I recognize that understanding the past is an important aspect of foresight. How can anyone decipher the messages that we are given until we can understand how our past twines with what we are given?

I realize yet again in the pelting rain that intuition speaks in mystery and code. Through challenges met and lessons learned, I have the capacity, the knowledge, the critical thinking to look at the weave , to separate the strands and look at the twining braid. Only then can I see the blessings, the grace that led me to this very moment.

That knowing, with a dash of curiosity, give me the courage to cross the courtyard of that house of illusions. With daring and courage I take the risk that carries me from the dilapidated, worn place into the spark-lit place of possibility. Crossing into the fierce wild, I breathe in the rain, drink in the compost tea, and am renewed.

It’s raining. And in the rain I gain the energy to renew myself — even those dilapidated, worn places. In the renewal I come home to myself. I invite you do the same.

Tuesday, November 30, 2021

Who? A Birther of Miracle? You! A Birther of Miracle!

Within each of us is a miracle waiting to be birthed. That sounds really cool, doesn’t it? I can hear those creaky gears turning in your head, “Me? A miracle. I. Don’t. Think. So.” I believe in you, in your ability to birth a miracle, even when you can’t believe in yourself.

What is a miracle? Let’s start with the basics — the definition. According to Merriam-Webster a miracle is something extraordinary. It is an extremely outstanding or unusual event, thing, or accomplishment. For me, this definition changes everything. It brings my sphere of possibility closer to miracle realm.

Although a miracle may seem otherworldly. It’s not something out there. It doesn’t happen to you. You are not a passive participant. A miracle is an inside job, you instigate the miracle. It a response that simmers from the core of your being. It is birthed from your sacred spark.

A miracle is so bright, so extraordinary that you cannot contain it. Its light bursts forth from your being demanding to be shared with the world.

Let’s ground this talk of miracles into real life situations. I think about the times that people have shown up for me when I was in a bad space. People just spontaneously reached out to me at a moment of despair.

They didn’t know I was in a bad place. It was some unknown that had them reaching out. Their words and actions dispelled the gloom surrounding me. With clarity I could see deep within myself. I knew just how much I mattered — to others and myself. In this mattering, I could show up as my best self to others and myself.

The miracle wasn’t so much the words or actions of another. No, the miracle was the synergy created by their actions and my response. Think of synergy as energy created by two things that is greater than the energetic sum of the two parts. That is what a miracle is: unintended, joy-filled, wild consequence of relationship that stops us in our tracks and invites us into a new way of being.

A miracle doesn’t happen by my energy alone or through your energy alone. No, a miracle is fueled by the collective. It happens when the actions of one are received without expectation by another. A miracle is birthed in the awareness of the extraordinary, a recognition of the outstanding that occurs in that moment of connection.

A miracle changes you forever. That change sparks potential, chases away the dark, and propels us to the heights of joy and possibility. I am a birther of miracles and so are you.

Tuesday, November 23, 2021

It Is What It Is. Or, Is It?

It is what it is. Now that is a phrase that means different things to different people. Some believe that it is a statement of defeat. Others believe it is an objective statement of life that hold the possibility of growth.

Where is the truth? It is one or the other? Is it both? It might be one or the other. It could be both. It depends upon how you see life. Is life dynamic and ever-changing or is it static? Can you live into your best self or must you live within the narrow straits you find yourself in?

Here is another thought: do you believe that fate is unchangeable or do you believe that you control your fate? If you are like me, you believe that to a certain extent, you control your fate. I believe that while I can’t control the externals, I can control how I respond or react to them. I can find the loopholes through which to leap into my best self.

It is what it is. Sometimes we are in situations in which we feel paralyzed. There is no way we can see to change them. It is easy to spiral into a dark moment as suffering and futility wash over us. Once we are in the downward spiral it is really hard to reverse the trajectory and move toward a better place.

Do you like being stuck? I don’t. I’d like to suggest another way. It is the way of a Buddhist vow: to take life as it is. This vow invites us to identify the suffering in our life and move from this dark place to a place of healing through compassion.

Taking life as it is is not about complacency or giving up. No, within this slogan is the energy of compassion swirling into our being. It lifts us out of the darkness and into hope. How do you breathe into compassion and turn suffering into opportunity? Let’s practice.

Reflect upon a situation that seems tough. A situation that isn’t as you would like it to be but one that is. A situation in which you feel really stuck or trapped.

Notice how the experience is impacting you physically. Do you feel a heaviness? Are you tight? Do you feel an absence? Notice and name without judgment.
Notice your mind — thoughts, images, memories — those things that are mentally drawing your attention. Notice and name without judgment.
Notice your emotions. What is crying from your soul about this situation? Notice and name without judgment.
Notice how you feel spiritually. Name without judgment.
Breathe into what you notice. Go to any place within your being that feels tangled. Ask for guidance on how to release the suffering. Ask, “What one thing can I do to release my suffering?” Listen to the answer.
Breathe the light of compassion into your body. Feel the tangles letting go as compassion permeates your being. Invite peace into your being.
Now at greater peace, look at the situation. Ask yourself where the opportunity for change is?
Name the change.
Vow to do one thing that will make your world a little less dark.

Taking life as it is does not have to be a grower of suffering. It can and is a way to move from the darkness of suffering into the incredible lightness of being that fills us with compassion.

Tuesday, November 16, 2021

Of Dust Bunnies & What Ifs

The winds are blowing through cracks in my soul. I can feel the chill of uncertainty seeping into the dark corners of my being. Long-hidden dust bunnies of fear twirl lazily on a cold gust. I shiver in the wafting fear as the dreaded questions of “what if” and “is this all there is?” rise into my consciousness.

In that paralyzing instance of fear, I rest in the space between heartbeats. In this place of nothingness, the silence calms me pulling me deeper into myself. The winds don’t stop; they continue to gust. Calmed, I catch a thermal, slip past dust bunnies all the while knowing I am protected by the peace whispering within the silence.

The peace soothing my spirit reminds me that I need not be stuck in uncertainty. I need not give into fear and impotence. Peace urges me to breathe through the moment. As my peace-filled breath permeates me, I relax into a peculiar way of being. I hear peace chant within me, “let go, let go, let go — be who you are.”

So, I let go. This is not a free fall into the uncertain. No, I catch a thermal and ride it into the sky of my soul. As I soar, my perspective shifts. Those dust bunnies of fear are no longer raging monsters that threaten to overwhelm my being. They are inconsequential bits of fluff that invite me to explore what is stopping me from climbing the mountain of transformation.

In this exploration, I hear the question echoing in my mountaintops, “what if?” And, I wonder: What if I stop letting fear guide me down my path? What if I stop hiding from those dust bunnies? What if I reach for the heights of those mountains in my soul? Because, if I stop getting caught by fear, I recognize where I truly am — I am perched someone in a crag on that mountain top. And, maybe, step by step, flight by flight, I will discover a home within myself.

Answering this question brings a response to the second question: “Is this all there is?” Of course not. Life is to be lived in the depths of fear, the heights of joy, and in the between. When I truly realize that, I move from a cognitive place to a space where emotional and mental merge. In this place of possibility, I soar into my soul mountains. I gain the energy to explore the mountains of my dreams.

Awake to the pure joy of being, I recognize that this isn’t this all there is. The world is a wild, wide open space. I just needed to open my eyes and see. I wish you to live with eyes open, too.

Vanessa F. Hurst, ms, is an intuitive-coach-catalyst. As a contemplative coach, she uses mindfulness practices and intuition tools to create strategies for navigating those places may scare us or bring us joy. The result of time with Van? Creating a blueprint for your life through a deeper connection to your intuition and contemplative nature. 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.

Tuesday, November 9, 2021

Step into the Wild. I Dare You!

Step into the wild. A place of fierce beauty, whispering mystery, sparking magic. A place to listen and respond to the strange tattoo sounding from your core. Step into the wild and be forever changed…for the better.

The wild is not a physical place although you can certainly discover yourself in untamed spaces. The wild is a state of being in which grace flows through you. Hearing this flow with all your senses gives you limitless opportunities to respond. The tendrils of the wild weave within your responses, and the braid twines deeply into your being. Soon you are no longer separate from the wild.

In the wild you are a master weaver choosing the threads of your tapestry. These are strands of the moment, strands for a season, or strands of lifetime. Listen deeply for those threads sing a fierce song of being — asking you to unfold your truth and live in the unfolding.

I bet you thought you were living a fairly mundane existence. Maybe you even felt frustration at your life. Perhaps you heard a subtle whisper echoing in your being and you couldn’t quite grasp its meaning. Never fear! Even when you are unaware, the wild’s tendrils tease the edges of your consciousness.

Know that the wild waits eagerly to be heard. It is outside, inside, between. The twinkling laughter of the wild is present in your being. When you calm and center yourself, makes itself known. It ripples through you.

How do you find the wild? How do you connect to it? By stepping inside yourself, anchoring to your core, and listening to the fierce beauty that rides on the breeze of your breath.

Are you ready to experience the wild? Sit quietly. Follow your breath as it flows through your body. Notice where there is resistance — how is your mind spinning? Where does your body feel tight? How are your emotions percolating? Allow the breath to gently caress your unevenness. Settle into a place of calm, a state of peace.

When feelings of calm, of peace fill you, invite the wild into your awareness. Don’t worry about understanding what the wild wants to share. Just listen. Feel the wild ignite your core, light your frenzy, and spark a wildfire of knowing in your being. Acclimate to the wild as it whistles through you; soothing the rough edges, making you whole.

Recognize that you do not enter the wild alone. The Spirit, the Great Other, always walks with you. Invite the Magician of All into your moment. Believe in Its presence. The wild hurricane force winds lesson in intensity. Somewhere between it howl and its whisper, the wild speaks in a cadence you understand. Listen to its feral wisdom. Through the combined energy of your wisdom and its, the path into yourself unfolds.

The wild is a place to gather new beginnings, to let go of the old, the stale, the stagnant. It is a place to trust in the ultimate, ever presence spark of transformation that wants, yearns to ignite a bridge from the here to there. The wild isn’t so much out there but a part of you that yearns to heal your woundedness and be made whole.

Tuesday, November 2, 2021

You Are

Have you ever reflected upon the question, “Who Am I?” I mean, really sat with the question? Dug deep — past your roles, past the illusions you cast, past the illusions others cast upon you? If so, what did you discover at the core?

I have taken a deep dive into this question. More than once. I am sure that I will do it again and again and again. The questioning is part of a lifelong journey of self-discovery. What have I discovered? I am dynamic and evolving — as more of who I am is revealed, I know that there is more to uncover.

Maybe what I have discovered will nudge you deeper into self-exploration. I believe that within each of us is a child of light, a dancer in the dark, a traveler through the veil, a harvester of wisdom, and spark of transformation. Maybe you will see these aspects of yourself, too.

A child of light

Within each of us is a spark that shines so bright that it cannot, will not, be extinguished by suffering. Sure, when we suffer, our light dims. But, when we acknowledge suffering, we awaken the spark of compassion within. Awareness of suffering is the first step in sharing compassion.

Find your way through suffering by breathing deeply. Feel the suffering. Surround suffering with your breath. Allow your breath to flow to the ember glowing at your soul. Blow upon the ember. With a whoosh your spark ignites. Through your exhale, compassion flows from your being incinerating suffering — yours and others.

A dancer in the dark

Life is lived in moments of light and in moments of dark. To shy away from the shadows means we live by half measure. To live fully is to enter the dark. Stepping into the shadows takes courage. With each courageous step into the shadows, we develop our rhythm. Soon we are dancing in the dark.

This is the dance of eyes wide open. The dark cannot scare us when we know what gifts it offers. With awareness engaged, we find the root of a challenge, discover a gem of wisdom. Aware, we act upon our discoveries. The dark is no longer a desolate place for our sacred spark burns brightly illuminating the treasures within.

A traveler through the veil

Dark. Light. In between. The veil invites us into the between where everything appears clearer. We notice what catches us, what we shove away. We choose to not to be caught in tangles, we are objective about what is happening.

This traveling through the veil requires nonattachment. This doesn’t mean that we live in the gray of our life. If anything, when we are nonattached, we feel more strongly. We are aware of how we are impacted by our triggers. We choose how we respond. Traveling within the veil gives us choice.

A harvester of wisdom

No matter where we find yourself on this journey to our self, there is wisdom to be had. At the end of Zen and the Birds of Appetite, Thomas Merton tells us, “It would be good if we would open our eyes and see.” When we see with our entire body — all of our senses — we open our self to wisdom. We become wiser.

Wisdom floats just out of our reach, is wedged in the crevices of our being, whispers in the wind of our soul. Wisdom is present in every moment of every day. To be a harvester of wisdom is to open our heart, our mind, our soul. Within those openings spring forth the wisdom we harvest.

A spark of transformation

At our core is a spark of divinity. A glowing ember that connects us not only to the sacred but also to everyone, every creature — all of creation. The light is no longer separate. We are aware that we are the light as we bask in the light, we share our light, we reflect the lights around us. The dark is no longer a scary place. Within it, is the stuff to kindle our ember.

Within our spark, dark and light twine to create who we are. It powers our journey through the veil. Within the veil we see with everything we are. We harvest the wisdom that calls to us both within and without. Within the wonder in the world, we gather wisdom seeds to our core. In the gathering we transform.

How are you a child of light? A dancer in the dark? A traveler through the veil? A harvester of wisdom? A spark of transformation? How is your life uniquely, unequivocally, daringly you?

A child of light

A dancer in the dark

A traveler through the veil

A harvester of wisdom

A spark of transformation

uniquely, unequivocally, daringly you