Sparks in Wisdom's Fire: intent

Showing posts with label intent. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 12, 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.

Tuesday, September 7, 2021

go out on a limb

take a risk…go out on a limb…wake up…the world needs the change that is you

That’s a tall order — taking a risk, going out on a limb — heck sometimes waking up is hard enough on any give day. But, what happens when we REALLY wake up? When we pay attention to the world around us? That comes with a big risk. Awake, we cannot ignore what is happening in the world. It is in the waking up to risk taking that we change the world by changing our self.

Risk — when you go out on a limb, you don’t know if the limb will hold your weight or if it will crack. If it cracks, you don’t know if you will plummet to the ground or grow wings and soar into transformation. Living in the unknown is the nature of risk.

When you take a risk, you are never quite sure what will happen. It means that you journey outside your comfort zone hoping that change will occur. But, no matter how you couch it, change is scary. You cannot control what will happen when change happens.

If you are like me, sometimes you take a risk. You think you gained whatever you thought you were risking. Other times you get really discouraged about the results. What I have found is that no matter what the result of the risk, I land in the fertile ground of possibility driven transformation. Think about that. Even when you think you failed; you have not. Because in that perceived failure, change happens.

Risk. What do you do? How do you engage risk? First, get in touch with you. Think about the illusive goal — the prize that you have your eyes on. This is your journey — the one you take toward the prize. No one can tell you if it is worth the effort. Your decision. Your choice. Your change.

Ask yourself:

What is stopping me from grasping the prize?

What one creative thing could I do to grab hold of that prize? To live the life I want?

What is the risk?

What do I have to gain?

If it doesn’t work, what do I have to lose?

Answering these questions demystifies and redefines the risk. It helps put things in perspective. And, maybe it lessens the anxiety, the fear. Maybe in the redefinition, the demystification, you edge a couple of steps out on that limb.

Take a risk; make a choice to live your life fully and without apology. That is all that risk asks of us. Remember that no one but you can take the risk. This us your decision, your choice, your change.

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 scary places. The result? Creating a blue print for your life through a deeper connection to your intuition. 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, August 3, 2021

You. Are. Loved.

I. Am. Loved. Say those words. Let them flow over your being. Feel them sink into your soul. Allow them to resonate in your body.

I. Am. Loved. Let the sweet nectar of those words flavor burst inside of your. Breathe in the wonder, the joy, the grace of those words. Awaken to the beauty at your core.

I. Am. Loved. Believe it. Be it. Know it without a doubt.

Doesn’t it feel wonderful to know — to feel in the marrow of your being that you are loved? I know that when I feel loved, the world shifts. It becomes brighter. I feel lighter. And, I admit that accepting that knowing is one of the most difficult things that I do. Sometimes it is hard to really believe that I am loved with that intensity. That I am loved unconditionally.

Maybe you are one of the lucky ones who has never experienced that moment of doubt about being. Maybe you have always recognized the love that surrounds you. Maybe you have always known deep at your core that being loved is a right not a privilege. If so, can you teach us how to make the leap across the chasm of self doubt into self acceptance?

Because with self acceptance come possibility. We recognize that all things are possible with love. So, when love wraps me in her warm embrace and I hug her back, the struggles aren’t so tough. In fact, they fall away. I not only have a place in the world, but love reminds me that most of all, I belong to myself. Love reminds me that I am worthy and incredible things are waiting for me to accept them. With love I take my place in this world of enough.

I. Am. Loved. Three radical words that bring with them self acceptance. That are the light that brings you ever closer to recognizing that you am not becoming anything. You am exactly who you need to be in this moment. And, that is awesome.

Tuesday, June 1, 2021

Growing Anticipation in Fields of Joy & Grace

We are in that time of year when everything seems to be bursting forth. The growing season is here. Those cherry tomato plants I bought on Mother’s Day have quadrupled in size. The wooded area behind my house has greened up. The sun creates dappled patterns as it slips through the leaves of the trees. It is a time of growing anticipation.

With anticipation comes joy. In this joyous time, it seems that life cannot be contained. And, from this growth hope spills into my life. How can I not be hopeful when everything is so full of life? For me, the key is in balancing the hope with the distress that I see in the world.

Sure, I do things, like read the news, that cause despair. I cannot seem to end that particular addiction! I have interactions with grumpy people — and sometimes people interact with the grumpy me. But, when I stop to breathe into life for a moment, my awareness slides through the uncertainty, the fear, and into the wonder of life.

In that wonder, I can anticipate change whether it be like the growth of a tomato plant or whether it moves along at a snail’s pace. I have hope that change is bringing the transformation that I need at this time in my life. If I focus too hard on suffering and despair, then the hope that comes with compassion is hidden in the undergrowth of my life. In each moment I practice compassion, I alleviate suffering and clear the way for hope to sprout.

Maybe, just maybe, when we become aware of the wonder, the potential that exists within us becomes the roots that bear the stems of our hope-filled actions. Those actions herald transformation. Remember that transformation, much like the roots of our potential, is an inside job. It is that tiny eternal flame inside us that propels us though life’s messiness into a space of transformative grace.

For me, grace is the ability to stay positive, believe in forward movement, hope for a better outcome. Grace shows me how I get stuck and lights the way to getting unstuck. Grace is the light that shines upon the cracks in my wounded soul and powers the healing that brings me back to myself.

This year is a year unlike any other. We have been through the dark night of Covid and are nearing the dawn of new day. As we enter this brave, new day, we are asked to breathe deeply into our soul and ignite the flame of grace that propels us through the uncertainty, through the fear. Into our respond. That response is to act from the depths of our courageous self.

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Tuesday, March 23, 2021

Why run when you can walk?

Yeah, you read that right. Sometimes we are in such a hurry to get where we are going, that we miss the treasures within each moment. So, why run when you can walk?

Hurry. Hurry. Hurry. Rush. Rush. Rush. Inevitably we miss. miss. miss. Sometimes I get in such a big hurry to get there, that I miss what is happening in the moment. And, maybe you do, too.

I know that there are some great arguments for running — the wind, the freedom, the endorphins. There are also some great benefits to walking — time to be, time to see, time to mindfully engage in the moment.

Last Saturday I went for a walk. I felt my feet rolling heel to toe. As the sun shone down upon me, I shed my jacket. As I negotiated the cracks in the uneven pavement, I noticed spring smiling up at me. Which I guess was appropriate because last Saturday was the first day of Spring!

For me, one of the first signs of spring is the lush purple ground cover of heal all. These flowers explode in purple color in wasteland areas. I heard their voices floating on the breeze, “You made it through another winter. Spring is here. Let the new beginnings bring healing grace.”

I smiled as I looked at the not-so-small patch of flowers growing over the unevenness of the land. Rooted deeply in the soil, it provided healing after the rains, sleet, and snow of the winter. The heal all provides a place for the water to be absorbed and distributed to where it is much needed.

The healing power of compassion is like heal all. It shows up after a long, hard winter of suffering like those bright purple flowers that bring smiles of joy and guide us back to our self. Compassion doesn’t gloss over what has happened but invites us into the beauty of the moment. It helps us breathe into our unevenness, the cracks of our being. Compassion invites us to heal all — or those things in our life that have been worn and cracked by the suffering.

But, back to walking instead of running. That heal all is a great example of what I like about walking. I notice the little things that invite me into the moment. My intuitive awareness is flipped on, and I absorb the many messages that come to me in each and every moment.

When I walk, I choose the speed — slow meditative, a meandering, a jog, speed walking, or somewhere in between. Whatever I choose, I walk at a speed knowing that this journey is a glorious step-by-step movement to a myriad of destinations made more relevant through listening to the intuitive messages in the moment.

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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Tuesday, January 26, 2021

It’s Raining: Messages for the Moment

It’s raining those chilly drops that don’t quite seem to clean the grime of the world. Instead, the rain puddles and laughs as the cold wet seeps through my shoes. It’s raining, and I can’t help to wonder why the rain cannot be the fluff of snow dancing from the sky and painting the landscape in flurry white.

But, then, the realistic optimist inside of me says that this rain could be sleet, and I could find myself pinwheeling never quite gaining my balance. At least this rain creates reflection puddles! What would I find if I peered deeply into the pitter pattering rain? To discover that answer is a challenge for a cold, wet day!

A friend of mine says that everything happens for a reason. Maybe these chilly drops and those freezing puddles remind me to look at the world anew. The damp is most certainly waking me — pay attention, Van, they seem to say. But, maybe the rain need not mean anything but the earth is taking a long, cold drink of water pouring from the sky.

Whether or not the message is for me or for the parched earth, I have to be sure of the message falling from the sky. So, I center myself, look at the altered landscape, allow the drops to dampen my shirt, and breathe deep. Once inside, I boldly peer out the rain smudged window. I see the hush outside reverberating into the marrow of my bones. With daring, I open the window. What greets me is the smell of cool crisp mid-winter.

I am reminded that we are still in fallow times. The rain seeps to where we cannot see and nourishes seeds that we may not even know are there. In that reflective moment I wonder what seeds buried deep within my soul I am nourishing in this moment.

The rain is a trickster messenger. It may not clean the grime, but drop by drop it changes the landscape of our being. The rain offers us opportunities to see what we could not see before. How do we dig deep into the intuitive message of the rain? The first step, for me, is to reframe the laugh of the cold wet seeping into my shoes to a not-so-gentle reminder to pay attention to what is occurring in this moment.

Paying attention may mean learning to skirt the metaphorical puddles and traverse dry land. Or, it may be an invitation to live in wonder and splash in a puddle or two. Maybe it’s a call to forget the discomfort of being wet and engage fully in childlike wonder of nature. Maybe it is just saying, “Be in the moment. That is all you need to do.”

It’s raining and those drops pull me from a rather mindless meandering into a moment filled with absolute wonder of being. What message does the rain share with you?

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Tuesday, September 22, 2020

A Refractive Reflection

Life is a kaleidoscope of colors; a never-ending growing into our self. On this nonlinear journey, we discover time and time again that we don’t have everything figured out. Life is in the figuring not in the out. For the out is the end of this journey; a respite before we begin the next. But, we have many twists and turns and joyous shouts before that occurs.

Our kaleidoscope refracts creating a new vision of the challenges and possibilities in our life. Through this shift we view a never-ending display of possible colors shapes. Reflecting upon what is revealed means listening with all of our senses to intuition wafting up from our core. That voice provides a wealth of information that can only be discerned by being nonattached to the message and being nonjudgmental about the information itself.

Once our connection to intuition is recognized, how do we strengthen this connection? By being nonattached and nonjudgmental. This is HARD! So, I recommend beginning with a big dose of self-compassion. Recognize that you are not always going to interpret your intuition accurately or even hear what it saids. Be gentle, be kind with yourself as you connect more fully to your intuition. Self-compassion reduces performance anxiety while increasing your intuitive awareness.

Then listen to the voice of your intuition. Is there something that is just a step out of the ordinary? Perhaps the intuitive clue is easily identified. Begin with whatever you notice. Breathe deep. Connect with your inner calm. Then with curiosity and without expectation, follow the thread of your intuition to wherever it leads.

Here is an example: early this morning, 3:30-ish or so, I was awaken by a doorbell. Now my home doesn’t have a doorbell. But the sound was insistent enough that it woke me up. I listened as it faded away. I wasn’t sure what to make of it. I felt no fear. Just a knowing that something was attempting to grab my attention. Although I could not decipher the message in that moment, I knew that I would later.

I often process my intuition, enter into refractive reflection, when moving. As I walked later this morning, I reflected upon the message of the doorbell. As I followed the refracting kaleidoscope, I recognized that I didn’t need to struggle. I could stop trying so hard. The ground work for my next great adventure is laid. I needed to continue on the path for something was coming to me. That was the message in the ringing of the doorbell.

We engage in refractive reflection more often than we realize. Sometimes those moments are truly brief and spontaneous. Other times, like my morning walk, we intentionally set the stage to decipher the message. However we decipher the message, we do so by listening to our intuition and following its guidance.

This sounds simple, right? Well, not necessarily. That is where the self compassion comes in. There are times that we do not understand or even misinterpret this guidance. We may be just too caught in the bending light as our life kaleidoscope shifts. That is perfectly okay. A fortune cookie once reminded me that “we learn more from our failures than from our successes.” That is a truth I chuckle about over and over again.

Refractive reflection is a willingness to actively and curiously engage whatever we find in our life. We quietly listen to the message in whatever we find. It is a call to courageousness; to willingly enter our life adventure over and over again as we discover exactly where we are meant to be.

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 (vanessa@intentandaction.com) for life coaching, intuitive consultations, keynotes, and programs.

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Tuesday, August 11, 2020

Just for Today: The Practice of Living

When I think about living in the moment, I remember my Reiki training. In every class I teach, I share the Reiki principles. Each principle begins with the same phrase, Just for today. Students are invited to live from those principles in each moment of everyday. Just for today is a reminder to be mindfully present wherever, whenever, and however you find yourself.

Although it may not be called mindfulness, many traditions invite us to focus on the moment. We are advised to be aware of opportunities that flit in and out of our consciousness. I have heard mindfulness referred to as “focusing your awareness on the Sacred.” What happens when you focus on the moment? I believe we discover that this moment is all we have.

Our life is comprised of rolling moments one seamlessly flowing into the next. Unaware, we lose focus on our hopes, our dreams. We miss nuances of opportunity. Instead of responding, we react. But, all is not lost. In the next moment, we can regain awareness. Then, mindfully, we reset our intent by focusing on that moment and those moments that roll from it into the next.

Developing a rhythm of moving from one moment into the next takes practice. For me, there are three types of practice:

Practice is formal. You may meditate, walk, practice tai chi or yoga. These activities empower you to focus your attention in the moment as you connect with the world around you. This practice occurs at regular times throughout your day

Practice is informal. These are check-in moments. Perhaps you are feeling frustrated or something just doesn’t feel right. You may be distracted. You take a break — focus on your breathing, go for a quick walk, play a game of solitaire. These activities serve as a disconnect from what is distractive and pulls you from the moment. They mindfully reconnect you to present moment.

Practice is spontaneous. These are those moments when the extraordinary catches your attention and you mindfully engage it. You hear the laughter of a child and fully engage the joy. You notice the beauty of the sunset and breathe into it. Living in the moment, your senses come alive. You feel the sacred found only in that moment. The resulting energetic boost gives you the power to stay in the here and now for increasingly longer periods of time.

Using those three powerful words, just for today, decide what actions edge you closer to your hopes, your dreams. Then take those steps knowing that you have the power to realize exactly what you need. That realization happens only in the present moment.

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.

Tuesday, July 28, 2020

Don’t Cling So Tight (The Art of Letting Go)

I grew up in an era where the phrase “let go, let god,” was the way to connect with the Sacred. Seldom did I experience what I thought was letting go: a total fall into the arms of the Sacred. I wondered what was the matter with me until I understood it wasn’t me — it was my interpretation of those four words.

For some time I have grown more and more tangled in a situation. No matter how much I tried to let go, I found myself more tangled. The tightening bands of attachment cut deeper and deeper into my spirit. I despaired that I would ever be able to let go. Taking a step back from this experience, I recognized that I was clinging too tightly.

After a particularly bad moment that resulted from clinging to what I could not change, I finally had the talk with myself. I could not continue on the path I was on. I knew that I needed to take two steps back from the situation that had me so tightly tied in knots. I needed to be objective about the experience before I could find a way to slip from the knots that bound me.

The stepping back began with reflection. I objectively reflected upon what triggered my clinging. Then through introspection, I gained an understanding of why I was clinging so tightly. What followed the identification and understanding of what was triggering my clinging was the difficult part — paying attention to how I was getting hooked over and over again. I used the power of my breath to flow through my addiction-like tendency to get trapped by the tightening knots. Through my breath I discovered in real time how and why I was being caught.

This was not easy. As I reflect upon the past several weeks, I see that things have lightened — knots have loosened. Instead of my frustration morphing into anger, I now identify the frustration at the root of my clinging. It doesn’t have anything to do with another; it has everything to do with my reaction to the situation. So, I ask myself, “What you can do in the moment to alleviate your frustration?” I listen to the answer wafting from my intuition. Then, I act upon it. Any potential reaction is neutralized. The energy of letting go powers my response.

Slowly by slowly the grip of my clinging has lessened in this situation. I have discovered that letting go is less about flinging myself into an abyss and trusting that I will fly and more about leaning into my awareness with courage, trust, and resolve. When I lean into awareness, I catch the thermal of letting go and ride it on sacred wings.

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 (vanessa@intentandaction.com) for life coaching, intuitive consultations, keynotes, and programs.

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Tuesday, July 7, 2020

Forgiveness: An Inside Job

Have you ever felt a deep shame or overwhelming grief over something that you had done? Unacknowledged, the memory returns again and again until it turns into an impenetrable knot. It weighs you down, wears you down, until your only action is reaction to that memory.

The memory does not have to control your life. Forgiveness quiets the voice of that memory while triggering breaks in the threads of shame and grief. This is not the forgiveness of an outward action during which you ask for forgiveness of another; no, this is an internal response of self-forgiveness.

Through self-forgiveness, I’ve realized that sometimes we make life much more difficult than what it is. Through courageous action, life is not difficult. It is only when we cling to the despair of coulda, shoulda, woulda, we get trapped in an endless cycle of what if. The twining of that knot into our core seem so entrenched that we cannot unravel from it.

An amazing thing happens when we forgive our self. We don’t have to untwine that knot. Through self-forgiveness that knot disintegrates. We feel lighter, more energized. From the dust, we the power to own the beauty of who we are.

Forgiveness is an inside job that impacts our relationship with the external world. It is a difficult action — make no mistake about it. Self forgiveness involves more than forgiving yourself for hurting another person. Self forgiveness is an acknowledgement of the grief and shame you carry. It means forgiving yourself for engaging in situations that culminated in your being hurt. Self-forgiveness is an affirmation of your worth.

How do we forgive our self?

Acknowledge to yourself how the action that was hurtful — to yourself or to another person.
Feel how and where the hurt has lodged in you. Describe it with all of your senses.
Ask yourself what is behind those feelings of hurt. (Stuck? Some words: betrayal, abandonment, unloveable). What are yours?
Hold those feelings in the palm of your hand. Breathe love into them. Connect to your heart. Allow the well of your compassion to surround them. Own how you feel. Consciously forgive yourself. Continue until you feel peace.
Surrounded by peace, ask “How can I change?” Small steps grow into great transformation.

It may take time for this peace to become a stable, integral part of you. Remember this. Be gentle with your self as you shower love and compassion on yourself knowing that when stuff happens, forgiveness is key and you matter.

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Tuesday, June 16, 2020

Navigating through the Transition Time: Imperfect in an Uncertain World

As the world slowly settles into this new normal, have you asked yourself about the impact on yourself of this transition time? How is your body, mind, spirit, and heart (emotions) managing all the uncertainty? Maybe things have shifted so subtly that you haven’t notices or perhaps there have been symptoms and signs you can no longer ignore.

No matter what, this transition time has left a mark on each of us. They may manifest in our body, our mind, our heart (emotions), or our spirit. The symptoms and signs present themselves uniquely in each of us. What have you noticed?

Mentally: Has your Ladder of Inference got a workout? (The Ladder of Inference is how our beliefs power our assumptions and judgments. The result is our responses and reactions.) Mine has. I have noticed more and more how my beliefs inform my judgments and assumptions and the ways that they manifest in my actions. I have had some uncomfortable but enlightening conversations with myself. My beliefs have shifted as I open myself to the views and beliefs of others.

Emotionally: During this time of transition what is your emotional state? Mine seems to have been scattered to the four corners of my being. This uncertainty is hard on the emotional life. For with uncertainty comes fears. Identify the fears is necessary to release paralysis. Reframing is vital to navigating the uncertainty. To reframe: Find the good, the beneficial, in any situation. Doing this gives each of us the power to try anew again and again and again until the fear no longer paralyzes us.

Spiritually: How do we make sense of what is happening? So much raw emotions is percolating and often boils over. I wonder how we can find our way into a world where the Golden Rule is the only response. To create a world that is governed by the Golden Rule, we return to our self. Internal transformation is the only birther of external change. This is a time for us to live from our beliefs — share our core message and invite others to share theirs.

Physically: If we have ignored the messages from our first three aspects, they converge and speak from the physical. It is difficult to ignore the mental, emotional, and spiritual murmurs that become physical shouts. There is a lot of heavy weight in this world that targets the physical. That realization came when little aches became big, and I admitted that I was not handling the uncertainty as well as I thought.

I dialogued with the first three aspects to identify what was happening. Only when I had this open, honest conversation with myself, could I consciously and intentionally name the fears and reframe where I am. This gave me the power to navigate through this time of transition. I didn’t have to know where I was going; I needed to be aware of what was unsettling me along the path and be open to the next step.

We are holistic beings. Our body, mind, spirit, and heart speak to us in every moment. They alert us to the potential of imbalance. By living with awareness, we acknowledge the little and big ways that we are impacted. Each aspect empowers us to minimize anything detrimental and accentuate the best in each of us. Because #inthistogether begins by keeping one’s self together.

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Tuesday, June 9, 2020

Blossoming Hope in a Desolate Land

I have a good feeling; no, I have a great feeling. Things are changing. With courage, we are shining our lights on our individual and collective imperfections. Naming them, we find ways to heal. Through these actions we, individually and collectively, are growing and transforming into who we are meant to be.

We cannot stop at the realization that as we change, the world changes. We’ve only taken a few steps out of an arid field filled attitudes, beliefs, and judgments that have caused this drought. Some are nuisances while others are barriers that prevent us from living from the fierceness of our heart. No matter how small or great, those attitudes, beliefs, and judgments stop us from living authentically.

From the recognition of the unsustainability of an antiquated system grows the delicate, fragile sprouts of a movement. We have the momentum. To transition from a movement into a way of life, we must grow the roots of this movement deeply in our collective garden. It is through our awareness that the roots of a nonviolent, equitable way of life grow.

About 3 1/2 years ago I began to use #inthistogether and #compassioninaction in my social media posts. These times call for us to embrace both. Awareness of the uncertainty and the malice that threatens to topple this fledgling movement is necessary to turn from a self focused life to one of community. The next step is to form a response that binds us to one another through acts of compassion.

How de we shift from a movement into a way of life? We begin with our self. We reflect upon how the external world resonates in our internal world. While external events may in no way mirror our internal life, we notice what the vibration is breaking free within us. We identify the cracks and plastering raining down upon us. We create a compassionate response to the resonance.

Next introspect. We become aware of how we are uncomfortable with prior reactions and/or responses. We name how we react to the external world. We develop strategies to shift from reactions to response. There is no method or one way to respond. Each of us chooses a response that draws us out of our comfort zone while growing our sphere of influence.

Finally, we integrate what we have learned in reflection and introspection into the way that we live our life. We live knowing that each #compassioninaction reflects that we are truly #inthistogether. Perhaps, if you do not have that great feeling in this moment, you will in time as you live a life of response..

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