Solitude

This word sometimes has a bit of a lonely connotation to it.  I have spent much of my life in the experience of solitude, sometimes liking it, sometimes not.  Lately, however, my experience of solitude has been a gift; a blessing.  I am in the process of learning that being in solitude is not being alone.  My times of solitude have been an amazing time of forging a strong relationship with All That Is.  There is a new experience I'm having of feeling my connection with Source.  It is a feeling of being fully surrounded and supported by the Love and Care that is unseen, but is very real and present.  That feeling is all-sustaining and fulfilling.  I am growing stronger on this path daily.  In our culture we think we need to have other people in our lives to complete us.  This stringent path I'm following has shown me that this belief keeps us from bonding with our Source as the foundational relationship of our lives.  When we have a primary relationship with Divine Presence, all of our other relationships can be healthier, and more satisfying.

"You are all we have.

You give us what we need. 

Our lives are in your hands, O [Source],

Our lives are in your hands."

         --words from a song, You are All We Have, by Francis Patrick O'Brien

   

Wholeness

Wholeness is who we are.  It is our birthright.  We are born in wholeness.  We live in wholeness.  We come from wholeness.  Anytime we don't feel like we are whole beings it is a mistaken perception caused by some overlay of earthly life--cultural expectation, injury, sadness, guilt, addiction, disconnectedness.  When we are here on earth, many layers of false instruction and opinion are heaped on us throughout life.  They are false to us individually if they fail to move us freely into the energy of our true selves.  What is false for me may be true for you, and vice versa.  It is the responsibility of each of us to find our own truth.  To learn what connects us with our wholeness, and keeps us moving toward that energy.  This is a lifelong task, but its rewards are great.  Living in wholeness allows us to relax into ourselves.  It brings us joy, freedom, comfort, and the ability to have our work feel like play.  Life becomes an exhilarating adventure.  Wholeness.  Bring it.

"The psyche has within it a natural gradient toward wholeness, and while one may attempt to ignore nature, the body attempts to remain in harmony with it in order to incubate the totality.  Prolonged abuse may result in an illness which brings the totality to consciousness.  Here is the paradox.  While the pieces of the puzzle gradually build toward the whole, at some point we must have a vision of wholeness in order to put the pieces into perspective.  Once the voice crying at the heart of the addiction is heard, then the [addiction] can be seen for what it is:  an attempt to obliterate the crying.  Then the [addiction] need no longer tantalize the two sides of the complex; spiritual food can feed the soul.  Neurotic frenzy can be replaced by real energy."   
                                                                   --Marion Woodman

"Whole-- An amount or quantity from which nothing is left out or held back."

                                                                   --Roget's Thesaurus