I wonder if our paths as humans are designed not to run in a straight line but to zigzag like the paths of butterflies in flight.
Zigzagging might not be an obstacle, but may just give greater freedom to go wherever we are inspired to go and break free from the predictable.
Perhaps the path is intentionally zigzag so that when we’re not sure where we are going, we end up exactly where we are supposed to be.
How often I stand in this being of me, just not sure what I see.
Insecurity on the inside
Appears as rejection on the outside.
Longing for love and positive connections
Show up as judgment and disappointment from others.
Feelings of shame and inadequacy
Manifest as attacks of anger and disgust.
The stories build not on what is really surrounding me but in the distorted view I have of the reflections.
My experiences and relationships are like a hall of mirrors.
The distortion produces more distortion until the internal and external judgment and criticism becomes too great to bear.
And then, I let go of the differences, weaknesses, faults.
I soften the gaze.
I let the edges of everything blur.
And then I see it is all just me.
I become curious not about what I see in the endless reflections in the mirrors, but in the source of the projection.
I can choose to encounter my world through friction and tension…
Or synchronized and harmonious.
There is feedback and purpose in both.
Tuning to aversion or alignment as the compass points on my path,
I can either move towards what feels comfortable, favorable, and right
Or rub up against imbalance, back up, turn away and go around.
I can always choose resistance or resonance.
In each moment
there exists a small space
of contentment.
It is our work
to come back to this space,
again,
and
again,
and
again
and
again
until with every moment
our first feeling
is one of contentment.
Hope you stay open today to all the world out there has to offer you.
There are no wrong choices…even if you choose to be the object of pain or discomfort for yourself or someone else. There is a lesson in it all… a forward momentum.
Sense when to watch and when to leap. Don’t be afraid to feel – all of it. Know that it is all there for you to experiment with and none of it bigger than you…because it is there as a part of you.
Seek adventure curiously and joyfully…in your heart, in your mind, and in every action or inaction. Take on all that is out there in whatever way will grow and inspire you best.
Lift the blinds. Open the window.
Breathe it all in.
Now go live in it.
Oh, to be in a state of body and mind in which I am
wholly connected to my inner radiance,
my vitality,
my strength,
my wholeness,
my joy,
in such an unconditional way that I interact with the world
with such grace, vibrancy, and connection
that I glow and flow
in all that I am.
Soft and focused,
Clear and free,
Confident and humble,
Knowing and speaking universal truth,
that I am
Powerfully chill.
Challenge can breed fear.
Fear fosters insecurity.
Insecurity inhibits growth.
Growth is a fundamental quality of living.
With growth we can overcome fear.
With every little bit of fear we face
We grow and that growth produces wider bands of safety
Making the next challenge a little easier to face,
Until more and more often the challenges yield directly to growth over fear,
And growth becomes the natural next step closer to joy.
They say it’s the rainy season,
But this sweet hibiscus might disagree.
Roots reach out for a hint of moisture
Only to find dry fissures.
Body wilting,
Edges curling
Under the heat of the
Unrelenting sun.
Is it possible to need less?
To hold out for the rain?
Leaves start to yellow and fall to the ground.
It may be unrecoverable.
The sky grays,
The wind picks up
Tugging on every branch.
Pounding rain bounces off the parched ground
Smacking the undersides of the few remaining leaves.
The clouds break.
The ground is soft.
The leaves are green.
Out pops a blossom.
No ties to suffering.
No lingering struggle.
Just strong, vibrant.
Resilient.
Like begets like.
Peace leads to peace.
Kindness breeds kindness.
Suffering can lead to ease.
Mistakes become opportunities for growth.
Loss makes room for freedom.
Fear dissolves in faith.
Whatever I cultivate as my experience, I have the ultimate power to accept or shift the paradigm. Every experience serves me even when on the surface it may look grim. When I align an experience with the goal of knowing love, the love that is there always – not between people but that creates people – everything comes into balance, harmony prevails.
I no longer need to label my experiences as good or bad when I know that all experiences unfold before me so that I can explore what it is like to be my best self.
This is the process of trust.
I am experimenting more and more with loving myself these days…not being safe or shoring up relationships to develop a sense of connection but authentic appreciation for who and where I am. I am showing up in the knowing that I have my intuition (that I will call Self) as a guide and while connection with community is an important element of the human experience, connection with my Self is just as crucial.
As I am learning to love myself, I am maneuvering through the awkward balance between selfish and selfless to find the sustainable space between…where ego informs, intuition guides, and I hold onto no preconceptions of what that will look and feel like as I determine what best serves.
The chain that secured the familiar is rattling. Full of insecurities, yours and mine, it informs as I release its grip on my heart, rusty links untangling for all of us to see that freedom is possible.
As I am rattling the chain around my heart I ask that you consider letting your chain rattle too to make room for a new way of showing up for you and for me.
Either way, I will be free but it might be more fun to conspire in the unchaining together.
Monday Mindfulness 