Interruption Intervenes

"Isn't it amazing how long it can take 

to learn a lesson, and how the Universe keeps

 bopping us over the head until we do?"

Suleika Jaouad

Just when I think I am doing so well, interruption intervenes. This can be the face of fear, doubt or self-sabotage.  I force myself to not shut down, but to embrace the discord, knowing it is part of a learning experience.

I believe I have learned a lesson, only to discover it has reentered in an entirely different presentation. Challenge wears differing costumes, requiring me to pay attention to what is inside beneath what appears.

I do not believe prevention safe guards us from altercations. The best defense for me is to maintain awareness, move forward with courage, and embrace whatever I am to learn. I have learned to laugh as the Universe plays tricks and simply carry on!

 

First or Last?

"I've been shifting from a mindset of living each day

as if it's my last ~ to living each day as if it's my first!"

Suleika Jaouad 

When I experience today as if it were my very last, I experience anxiety, fear, and apprehension.  If I view today as though it were my first, I am filled with imagination, excitement and an eagerness for it to unfold.

There is choice of how we view our days. If we weave elements of kindness within the threads of necessity, we will prosper. Our energy will not be as quickly depleted. We are more apt to stay in alignment.

What can we change in given situations to shift the outcome? Can we be less sensitive, more direct and open hearted?  If we do nothing to alter outcome, there is nothing but repetition. It is when we step out of the recurring behavior that delight unfolds.

Pen to Page ...

"Writing has always been my primary way

to make meaning, to marry the joy and sorrow,

to traverse the distance between no longer and not yet."

Suleika Jaouad

There are certain incidents unfolding in our lives that simply are not meant for sharing.  We may experience emotions so raw, it is impossible to give voice to them. Unfortunately, if we keep them within, they will fester into anxiety, stress or even depression.

The movement of pen to page, distracts us physically which allows our emotions to fully surface. Once words are splayed across a page, we are able to view situations from a higher perspective with greater clarity and resolve.

As we write, emptying our mind, we can feel stress slip away.  Our body begins to relax and anxiety does not remain quite as intense.  The ability to balance the body, mind, and spirit becomes easier which allows us to minimize depression, we might otherwise experience.

 

Layers

 

"There is something beautiful about how as life 

goes on, it continues to layer itself."

Suleika Jaouad

Creative souls speak of receiving a download of information, seemingly out of nowhere.  When it resonates, there is a sense of need to share it with others becoming a way of communication.  

Artists may paint over a canvas several times until the desired image arrives.  A musician may utilize numerous instruments before finalizing a musical score. Writers frequently hear a message repeatedly until a specific format can be found.

As information flows, it is guided into a template until a sense of completion surfaces.  This is true of life as well.  In the human experience, there will be layers of darkness followed by light, sorrow followed by joy, and death followed by rebirth. Layers of body, mind, and soul.

Navigating the Spiral

"Living means learning to hold the astonishingly

beautiful and unbearably hard things in the same palm."

Suleika Jaouad

Redefining the self can be exhausting.  We make choices to stimulate change, but frequently discover we have chosen out of old needs and desires.  We cannot create a true persona, if we do not know who we are at the core of our being.

Are we seeking expectations prompted by others or are we opening to what resonates throughout our being? Can we determine if our resources are dictating what we need or are we pursuing an inner nudge?

When we ride the spiral downwards, we enter the dark to learn what is hidden.  As we climb back up the spiral, we are stimulated by the light.  Both need to be navigated in order to establish balance with a deeper sense of living.