A Tale of Two Cats: Chaos & Change

Scattered meows heard  

here & there when herding cats

best to be aware 

My life passed in a haze as a pair of cats traipsed through my days. The pairs’ names was Chaos and Change. 

Everywhere that I looked those recalcitrant cats slinked — in my life, in the lives of friends, throughout the world. Dancing to a frenzied tune they resisted any attempts to control or re-direct. So caught in the upheaval of these mischievous cats, I could not see the opportunities waiting to shift my perspective.

Finally I focused on that tiny whisper riding on the purrs of Chaos and Change. I heard the words of Pema Chödrön, “You can see the world as an unfolding of opportunities or just a series of raw deals.” An aha! An epiphany! Change and Chaos are opportunity!  

Opportunity is an effervescent sparks that dances through everything. When I see possibility, I realize that while I can’t herd those cats; maybe, just maybe, I can change my perception of the cats and see them as opportunities to grow, to heal, to be peace.

I enter into my quiet and calm myself. In this place of peace, I invite the energy of possibility to suffuse me. I feel her ruffling breeze, and am drawn deep into her roots. I ask myself, what is causing my resistance to seeing opportunity instead of chaos. The answer is simple. Triggers.

As I expose my triggers, I gained a new perspective. I recognize that the cats weren’t chaotic. They were dancing to a song I composed and choreographed. To my chagrin, I realized I was the cat whispered who did not like how I was whispering to those cats! When I understood that I choose the song and the steps to the dance, the chaos once defined as raw deal became an opportunity.

Look at your frenzied cats. Let’s call them catalysts or triggers. How are you inviting the chaos of self-defeating triggers? How are those triggers manifesting in your life? Name the catalysts that stimulate the chaotic patterns. Once aware, you break the patterns.  

You rewrite your script and move from a place of seemingly endless chaos to one of limitless possibilities. Those frenzied cats will always be in our lives. We can choose to see those cats as raw deals or as opportunities for growth. 

Name those catalysts, befriend them, teach them your new song. As your song spirals from you, it twines into the hearts of others becoming a calming influence throughout world. 

 Van Hurst, ms, is an intuitive-coach-catalyst. As a contemplative coach, she uses mindfulness practices and intuition tools to create strategies for navigating the mundane and extraordinary. The result of time with Van? Being the change you want to see in the world by 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.

Website / LinkedIn Profile / Facebook / Twitter: @fyrserpent / ©2022

Taking Life As It Is…What Does That Even Mean?

When I think about life as it is, I am reminded of a saying that has been attributed to the mystic Julian of Norwich, “All will be well and, in the manner of all things, all will be well.” At times life is messy, chaotic, and filled with what we do not desire. We may attempt to hold tightly to our illusions and create a more palatable, if unrealistic, view of what life, our life, should be. That creation is a fantasy, which supposedly fulfills our desires and wants. Unfortunately it does not, because it is not real. 

Chaos is inherent in life as it is. Of course, within chaos lies possibility. In our struggle to live life according to the illusion we hold to, we throw our life and authentic self out of balance. Until we accept life as it is, we lack the springboard on which to launch a life that is all it can be. All will be well when we align our personal experience of reality with life as it is. Only through this alignment will we discover the possibilities that are beautiful, right, and life-giving in our world. 

Life is a wondrous roller-coaster ride that gives us both the greatest joy and the deepest despair, and every emotion in the between. We experience life’s roller coaster only in the present moment. We can only enjoy this ride and move in alignment with our authentic self by accepting the joys and the sorrows and the in-be- tweens for what they are. This acceptance is the gate through which new possibility manifests. 

Accepting life as it is requires us to integrate what I call the 4nons into all of our interactions: non- attachment, non-judgment, non-defensiveness, and non- violence. When we approach life with these four stances, our ability to respond is enhanced and our need to react lessened. Through the 4nons, we connect to our quiet mind and see our response flexibility increase. 

Response flexibility refers to the pliability or ease with which we choose to respond instead of react. Between a trigger and our response or reaction is a pause. How we gear up to act in that moment is a result of our response flexibility. Our ability to respond is made brittle or inflexible when we live out of our preconceived judgments and assumptions. An inflexible response ultimately drives a hurtful or harmful reaction. If our fears and worries are triggered, our instinct is to react. We cause harm. 

Each moment of cultivated awareness results in a more flexible response to life and its challenges. Non-attachment, non-defensiveness, non-judgment, and non-violence all increase response flexibility and help us to respond to life as it is, in loving, compassionate ways. 

Ready to learn more about living life as it is? Read Engaging Compassion Through Intent and Action (this is an excerpt)

Van Hurst, ms, is an intuitive-coach-catalyst. As a contemplative coach, she uses mindfulness practices and intuition tools to create strategies for navigating the mundane and extraordinary. 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.

Website / LinkedIn Profile / Facebook / @fyrserpent / ©2022

From Chaos to Celtic Knot

Do you ever feel the chaos in your world closing in on you? Maybe you feel a great big knot getting tighter and tighter. Your mind jumbles. You just can’t focus. Does this sound familiar? It does to me. 

Lately I have been thinking that maybe it isn’t chaos I am feeling. What if my reaction to a particularly difficult leg of my journey manifests as jumble? What if I just breathed through the feelings? What would I discover? 

So what led to my pondering? Earlier this week a client told me that her life was a chaotic mess. Using my intuition, I took a bird’s eye view of her life. What did I discover? Well, it wasn’t chaos. Instead of a tangled mess, I saw an intricate Celtic knot. This infinite loop didn’t have an ending or beginning. Instead, the path dipped and twirled as it wove through her life. Although it was amazingly beautiful, I could see how it felt, at times, chaotic to her.

What if we reframed the chaos into an uncertain loop of a Celtic knot? What if we viewed our lives as Celtic knots? Imagine an intricately woven, beautiful journey of twists and turns and loops and bends that is uniquely yours. Instead of being scared about what is just around the turn, you become curious about what lies ahead. After all, don’t you want to experience the weave of the knot? 

Life is mystery. We are never quite sure what the next moment holds. I don’t know about you, but I am curious and a bit daring. I am finding ways to courageously move more deeply into my Celtic knot. When fear threatens to tangle me, I remind myself that this is my journey so wherever, whenever, however I find ourself, I am home. And, that is big relief!

Can you accept this reframe from chaos to Celtic knot? If so, that means that whatever you name as chaos is just a part of your life waiting to be untangled. The narrow turns and stomach dropping dips aren’t leading you to a spooky place. The only destination in this Celtic knot is home to yourself. The great part? You learn who you are on this crazy ride on your life weave.

Those dips, bends, turns? Let’s call them challenges that show you what is stopping you from being who you truly are. You know, the authentic self…true self…just you! When you focus on the uncertainty, the messiness with the intent to learn, the chaos untangles. In that moment you understand the challenge and can choose how you move forward. 

Are you overwhelmed by this idea of a Celtic knot? This reframe may take some getting used to. To see life as an infinite twining is to be curious about what is in those tight, shadowy, unsettling spaces. It offers opportunity and potential. Opportunity to use the skills you have learned over a life time. Opportunity to compassionately meet your fears with courage. Opportunity to really become the person that you envision. And, I would bet, opportunity to discover that you aren’t so far away from that person you want to be. 

How do you travel the Celtic knot? Think about a challenging situation. Then answer the questions. 

• How did the situation hook you? 
• What have you learned about yourself in what hooks you? This can be a mishmash of both true and shadow. For example: you may discover that you have a compassionate spirit while being impatient. 
• How can you integrate what you learned into your life? 
• How does this knowing change you? 

Use these knowings to light those bends and dips of your Celtic knot on the way to transformation. 

Are you ready to ride the ribbon of your Celtic knot? I hope so because I am riding mine. 

 

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 / © 2021