Breath of Fresh Air

       

       

"Who will tell whether one happy moment of love or the joy of breathing or walking on a bright morning and smelling the fresh air, is not worth all the suffering and effort which life implies.

Erich Fromm

Today, I was allowed to breathe in fresh air.  The sun was shining on my face and precious breaths of pure air filled my lungs.  I felt more alive than I have in months.  These cleansing breaths poured over my troubled thoughts, sluggish body, and tainted cells.  I am alive once again.

It is like this when traveling the spiral, repeating lessons, and healing a little deeper each slide around a coil.   These transitions seemingly take forever when I am anticipating the very next segment.  I wait and wait, but when nothing rises on the horizon fear settles in ... what if there is nothing more? 

Seclusion seemed the most obvious way to settle my mind and open my heart to something new.  To eliminate distractions I focused  on reading, writing, and contemplating, but I did not seem to speed a transition along.  Desperate, I finally reached out to kindred spirits, hoping for some direction to appear.  Foolish gesture, indeed as all answers are within.  

Aware of my despair, a special soul held my hand and walked with me into my depths, helping to clear the debris blocking my path.   With her wisdom, she silently held her light for me to see more clearly the illusion of fear. She witnessed the dawning of my need to get out of my own way.

A surprise gathering of three eclectic spirits  reminded me of the power we all hold within.  As if waking from a long winter's nap, my strengths stretched  awakening the better parts of me.  How could I have fallen into such a deep sleep that I could no longer hear what I deeply know and what I have learned through a life time of lessons. 

My soul sounds like it is humming, happy to be inspired once again.  The breath of fresh air has ignited my visions and creative play is bouncing around in my head.  I had been worried my spiritual contract was complete, but today I know I am very far from done!

Fitting The Pieces Together

Conditions for creativity

are to be puzzled;

to accept conflict and tension;

to be born everyday;

to feel a sense of self.

ERICH FROMM

German born American

Philosopher/Psychoanalyst

1900-1980 

  

It is liberating to be free to create with our own gifts and talents.  Yet often times we are faced with conflict and become discouraged. Each day we start anew, and our creative gifts need to be expressed in a manner most comfortable to our inner being. In many instances, it takes years to discover the way to articulate or display our gifts in harmony and purpose.

Creativity comes in all shapes and sizes. It is not limited to music or painting or writing.  Inside of our being, there is a yearning to express our own sense of creativity.  Whether it is in mathematics or science, language arts or history, creativity plays a definite role.  We use creative expression in all that we do and it gives us a deeper sense of self.

From generation to generation, arts and crafts are frequently passed down.  There are third generation weavers or sculptors or carpenters. The art form may change from generation, but the basic skill threads its way through families.

My mother was very skilled in sketching which she used to design clothes and wedding gowns.  Her creativity was never used to its fullest and I believe this stunted her spirit.  

I received the gift of creativity as well, but unlike my mother, I cannot sew much more than a button.  I learned to express my creativity through different ways, such as: knitting, crocheting, candle~wicking, quilting, basket weaving, and various forms of painting.  

Although not skilled, I love to sketch in my journals which I have kept since childhood.  I have a passion for writing and it is my main outlet for creativity.  I have a gift for full color visualization in meditation which supplements both my spiritual life and daily activities.

Creativity has been passed down to my children as well.  My oldest son is very creative in building and story telling.  My next son finds mathematics to be a language  he speaks fluently.  My youngest son is gifted in carpentry and his gardens are filled with creative design.  My daughter, the youngest of the four, shows her creativity in her eclectic approaches while working as a therapist, and as a professor teaching to college grad students while dressing with original flair reflecting her creatively unique spirit.

Like mastering anything else, creativity takes time and patience.  Whether it is baking, cooking, gardening or furniture arranging, creativity must be cultivated with devotion and imagination.  We each have an obligation to explore gifts and talents as they are an important part of our personal and spiritual development and an excellent outlet for stress.

Life is like a jigsaw puzzle.  It is not until we fit several pieces together that we are able to see color and reason taking form.  As our lives begin to take shape, pieces do not necessarily fit together more easily, but the bigger picture becomes an incentive to carry on.  

Who Will Tell ...

Who will tell whether one happy moment of love or the joy of breathing or walking on a bright morning and smelling the fresh air is not worth all the suffering and effort which life implies.

                             Erich Fromm

A Spiritual Journey

 

"Let your mind start a journey thru a strange new world. 

Leave all thoughts of the world you knew before.

Let your soul take you where you long to be.

Close your eyes let your spirit start to soar,

and you'live as you've never lived before!"

Erich Fromm

I believe, a person begins a spiritual journey when they are born. More accurately, when there is awareness in the womb waiting to be birthed, the journey has indeed begun.  In childhood, spiritual understandings prevail until adults or cultural belief systems create doubt regarding what appears to be truth.

As life continues, spiritual insights seem to float in and out of our consciousness.  These bits of wisdom may present themselves in books, movies, conversations or dreams.  I think of them as nudges trying to wake us up to what is real and true.  Unexplainable synchonicities or coincidences occur, but they can be just short of miraculous bookmarks tracking the progress of the journey.

When steps are deliberately placed upon a spiritual path the journey leads to soul desires.  Once surrendered, tired of ignoring the call from within to wake up and take part in an unfolding spiritual life,  out dated beliefs start to fade away as well as friends who no longer offer support.  The spiritual journey is an individual passage, but teachers, new friends or experiences appear and facilitate learning.

It doesn't matter how long it takes to find the spiritual path.  What matters is taking those steps to follow.  Shedding what no longer serves and defrocking what no longer fits, the ego is set aside in preparation for the creation of your most authentic self.  Opening the heart to compassion, courage, and love can lead into long spells of darkness necessary for cleansing and making room for new growth. It can be like a hibernation, mulling over what new seeds need planting come spring.  When following the light, hard choices are made, but the rewards are inmeasurable.

The soul waits, eager to lead where heart longs to be and the path begins to unfold.  Join this spiritual journey,traveling within and allowing your spirit to soar!