Inner Journey

Many of the thought leaders today talk about the story(s) we tell ourselves to get along, to survive, to feel better. As a writer, this resonates because I have always told stories and written scripts. I would like to invite you today to consider looking at the idea of what stories you tell yourself and why/what role these stories occupy in your life. Do they complement or contaminate your life – given the path you are on spiritually, is it possible that these stories are no longer necessary?

Have things in your life been a struggle? Maybe things have just been constrictive or you feel stuck. Maybe you are frustrated with a situation you just cannot seem to get past. Lately I have had butterflies on my mind. No, not the nervous butterflies in the tummy but the beautiful, flighty, colorful creatures that take to the sky and land on the wild flowers. They do not stay in one place long, but before those beautiful moments of flight, it was a caterpillar snug tight in it's cocoon. That is where it goes through metamorphosis. Changes. There are stages to it's growth. And then, when the time is right, the cocoon tears away to reveal the colorful wings that take flight.

How many times have we not paid attention to the beauty right in front of us? We go searching for beauty in magazines and in nature and in our experiences...But what are the simply beautiful things that we should take notice of all around us?

This month has been interesting for my family as we're coming up on some major life shifts. The company for which my husband had worked for 7 years closed recently. Though he has not gone a day without a job due to the favor he's received over the past few months from the company who purchased the building and land, he is now facing a major job or even industry change. For our family this could mean relocating out of state. Additionally, we are faced with moving out of our home very quickly due to circumstances out of our control. Without knowing where my husband will obtain a new position, we are unable to decide where to move or to begin even looking. The strange thing is I don't feel upset or stressed about the unknown, and the reason for my peace is that I invited change to come into my life.

I am always held spellbound by semantics and linguistics; words can say so much and mean so many different things to different people. This struck me the other day regarding the word ‘recreation’. Think about the word recreation; it might conjure images of fun, down time, sports and hobbies, time with the kids, relaxation and enjoyment. It’s the time spent away from your working life, the chores and the 'should be doing' tasks your mind keeps reminding you of.

It is interesting how life events can give us the option to develop new perspectives which can then impact us on all levels. This happened to me on Thursday when I received a call from my dad about some family issues. After fretting over it, losing the day from fretting, I realized that this was an opportunity from the Universe, an invitation to review my feelings about the subject, previous work I had done on it and thought I had completed, and perhaps make a more conscious shift to position me better into the future.

Well, about a week ago, I got out of the car and noticed a butterfly on the ground. He was pretty damaged. An inch of one wing was missing. The rest of him was beautiful - a mix of colors; orange, yellow, brown and blue. He was broken, but he was still beautiful. I took a picture of him as I thought of how God had created this beautiful creature and how he could still be so lovely in his brokenness.

In my journey with words and language, I have recently stumbled upon another concept – that of Representation. I have been hearing friends use the phrase “I must stand up for myself”, have even used it myself occasionally. I have noticed in recent days that it rang off for me, something was amiss. Then it occurred to me, when we use that phrase, it speaks of victimhood on some level – somewhere in our lives we have given away the ability to speak on our own behalf.

Remember the balance beam in the school yard? Did you walk on it, balancing with your arms out from your side in the air? What about the lines on the sidewalk that you would walk like a tightrope? It was all about feeling the success of walking the line without falling off. We all have experienced that bliss of success. We also all know how it feels to "fall" and be in the topsy-turvey moments. How did you handle it when you fell off the balance beam? Did you criticize yourself? Did you swear to never get up on that thing again? Or, did you get right back up and take the risk of falling off again? Maybe a little of both? But here is the nitty-gritty: Each choice we make has a purpose. Life requires moments of imbalance in order to find the perfect balance.

I awakened the other morning and was confronted with an idea, a spark, a concept and really, an inner awakening. We, as humans, invest a large amount of time avoiding fear, requesting safety at every turn and ensuring we are stepping on sure footing. We make decisions not to go sky-diving or abseiling, horse-riding or snow-skiing because we have fears; fears of heights, fears of dark alleys, fears of creepy crawlies. My "awakening" came in the form of realizing that we sabotage ourselves every day, blindly allowing fear to invade and infiltrate our happiness and joy. You know why? Because we give permission for our ego to reign with the same fear we avoid in the physical world.

I can't tell you how many times I've changed my hair color, clothing styles, favorite bands and authors, or wall colors in my house (the painter (hubby) sighs...). Realistically, I am a highly cultivated experiencer of new and creative things (self-proclaimed...and that's the point to this article). I've discovered that change should come after deciding a thing or idea no longer is a part of who you are today and not because someone else or societal trends say so. Truth changes us but only if it is OUR truth and we genuinely experience it to serve who we are or want to be. When honored as a part of your sacred path, defining YOUR truth is the most significant change you will ever experience!

Ahhhhhh summertime! I just love ice clinking in a glass and then adding the lemonade. Wait. I am not done. I would also like a slice of lime, a slice of lemon, a cherry - stem on because it looks so much more decadent that way, and a sliced strawberry. Oh sure...add a slice of orange and some pineapple too. What do you mean, "That's not lemonade?" It is lemonade...with a twist.

We are laid bare by the assumptions of who we are before we even have a chance to explain. Perhaps they are not even listening. Part of being present is releasing ourselves from the idea of how things are, or should be, because of the past or the cultures surrounding us; releasing assumptions of others and more importantly assumptions of ourselves.

There is a place I have come upon recently, a land unlike any others I have visited either in Spirit or in the natural world. I have named it the Not Place, for it simply is not anything. It is a place of Being in between the space of Creation and Manifestation, just to the left of Limiting Beliefs.

Grief comes in all kinds of forms, doesn’t it? It can be the grief of a broken relationship, the death of a loved one, the loss of a job, even the loss of organs through a surgical procedure.