We are here to live our lives. Sometimes that's an easy thing to do, and other times we are clueless as to how to proceed. Living a life of authenticity has been my motivation always. It has been built into me that this way of living is the only satisfying way for me to live. And still it is challenging to know what my authentic life looks like. It's constantly changing, rearranging, opening, turning, and sending me down paths I would not have imagined. My best thought about living my life authentically is that it is done most truly when I completely let it happen without interference. And when I stay connected to my wild energy. Not crazy energy, just true self energy. I find myself well-supported at this point of intersection with All That Is.
"Just to be is a blessing. Just to live is holy."
--Abraham Joshua Heschel
Life is a journey with unbelievable twists and turns. Opportunity has knocked, and I hardly recognize it as my life. I know it is my life, because I am co-creating it with the Universe. But it is calling forward previously unexplored parts of myself. I am growing and being and learning and expanding and asking and wondering. Walking down the Unknown trail is the largest sort of adventure. I have asked to be shown, and that is happening. I feel grateful for my life, filled with every unfamiliar grace.
"Here...is a powerful mantra that will encourage the process of release and acceptance of the true nature of your divinity: 'I am love, I give love, I accept love, I believe in love, I extend love, I am always becoming love.'"
--Meredith L. Young-Sowers
I am learning infinite patience. I believe in opportunity. I also believe that "opportunity knocks." I am opening to powerful opportunities that will contribute to my life changes. I know that I am a person who can make the most of opportunities that come my way, whether they are large or small. But there's the issue of waiting. I may think it's time for an opportunity to arise, but the Universe may be in a different time frame. Waiting in the moments of each day is part of this process. If a person isn't being present, or is preoccupied with distracting busy-ness, an opportunity may go unnoticed. I am in the Mystery of staying open and unencumbered by distractions. Watching with an alert, but not grasping, attitude. This will allow me the freedom and wisdom to act on an opportunity that's custom-made for me.
"The Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words. We know that in everything God works for good with those who love God."
--St. Paul
Persevering. This is where I live. It has been a long road. Challenges have abounded. Hand-in-hand have been many joys and much growth.
Another idea has been present through my days: persistence. Old beliefs and thoughts have been persistent, possibly even insidious, requiring me to persevere as I dream myself into my life. Continued, patient effort has brought me to this place. Remaining steadfast in the face of opposition is my focus. I am overcoming and becoming my full self.
"Inner authority comes not from immediate material or spiritual 'success' but from perseverance. You gain inner authority with the belief and inner expectation that you do have an essential inner beauty that is priceless, worth struggling to uncover and to know."
--Meredith L. Young-Sowers
When we try something new, we look for experiences or feedback that will affirm that we are doing well, succeeding, or learning what we need to learn. We might say we are looking for a light to guide us. Sometimes in the process of doing something new, we are just steadfastly putting one foot in front of the other, not knowing what's fully happening or exactly where we are in that process. We are in a place that some have described as a "dark night of the soul." These are times when we feel like we don't know anything, and we must rely on beliefs in the power of Love, the gift of Life, and the truth that "all things work together for the good." I am in this place. It's fairly uncomfortable, but it's honest. I am staying open to the emergence of a new expression of my life.
"I said to a man who stood at the gate of the year, 'Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.' And he said unto me, 'Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God. It shall be unto you better than light and safer than a known way.' "
--M. Louise Haskins
I am experiencing Love in ways I never have before. I am being guided each day toward new ways of living my life. I am following my heart, and creating a foundation for my life and my art. Each day feels like a miracle because I am making connections that fit, and that move me forward. Though they feel like small beginnings there is a largeness about the movement. I am being carried on the river of my life's unfolding. There is strength in my Being.
"Love just is; golden in its simplicity."
--Author Unknown
"There are only two ways to live your life--as if nothing is a miracle, or everything is a miracle."
--Albert Einstein
I am such a maker. I've been making things all of my life. Drawing, building, coloring, assembling, observing so as to improve on the creation. Now is a time for letting things flow. I'm not so good at that when it comes to my life and livelihood. I have lots of practice at making things happen. Not so much with letting things happen. Yes, I've learned a lot about that through my processes of making art. But that feels like theory now that I'm applying those skills to my everyday lived-out life. It's a rich time for me of learning how to let things roll. Life activities have moved well with my orchestration. Now it's time to trust that they will move well through the orchestration and wisdom of Great Mystery. I've seen plenty of evidence of this already in my life. I am learning to hand over my life, because it's already part of Larger Life. I am learning to let my life flow naturally. Spring weather encourages my progress with this. New, perfect, and abundant life surrounds me, and cheers me on. I will go with the flow.
"It's all about choice, instead of reaction--what was true a minute ago may no longer be true. Become aware of choice; non-engaging with the noise. Things will move in amazing ways if you will allow them."
--Celia Fenn
Spring. It's all about alchemy. Out of winter's gray landscape comes a profusion of new life. My own life is swirling with change. New experiences are happening that announce a different unfolding of my life. One which is a complete fit, but that seems very unlike my past. It is shiny and new, and full of promise.
"alchemy--a method or power of transmutation; esp., the seemingly miraculous change of a thing into something better."
--Webster's Dictionary
"The creative force within each of us stirs into greater outward expression. This is reflected in Nature. New seeds begin to sprout. Sap runs and flows, stimulating new growth. Flowers and leaves begin to bud. The natural world begins to resurrect itself. For us, the rhythms are excellent for initiating new endeavors and manifesting opportunities for such within our life. It is a time in which the energies propelling us are excellent for initiating a new order to one's life."
--Ted Andrews
Wow! Lots of things are changing and shifting. I am moving through these days as if I'm rolling on a swiftly moving stream. I've hit some strong rapids along the way but my raft has just bounced right up and through them. It's not clear to me where this stream is headed. What is clear to me is that it is definitely leading somewhere, and I'm being encouraged to just enjoy the ride. Many twists and turns, ups and downs. But it feels like an adventure. And it feels like I'm well-cared for by unseen supports. The changes are all good!
"Transformation--
Energy does not die, it simply transforms. Life is born into life over and over.
Do not fear the transition.
Perpetuate trust.
Welcome the soul's journey.
Surrender."
--Lynn Andrews
This is a time of being unformed. All of creation is at work to bring form to new ways of Being. I am experiencing some impatience as these days unfold. Something in me wants formation to happen now. I know it's old thinking. I have been programmed to "make" things happen. If I want something, I am supposed to take all the necessary steps to insure that it comes to pass. That's not the way of gestation. Gestation is quiet, slow, natural. One thing leads to the next in a harmonious string of events, like pearls. No steps can be bypassed or shortened as the creation comes into being.
So for me it's best to embody patience. To "let" this process work its way. Larger wisdom dictates these days. My part is to support the process by relaxing into it. Staying grounded--feet firmly planted in the Present--is what helps to keep me on my path during this unformed time.
"Cherish your visions; cherish the music that stirs in your heart, the beauty that forms in your mind, the loveliness that drapes your purest thoughts, for...if you remain true to them, your world will at last be built."
--James Allen
