First off, what is happening to Time?! I wake up, start to do something for a moment and when I look again it's almost time for bed. I've felt myself getting anxious and fearful about not 'achieving' enough during these short-seeming days, and so when I've caught myself getting into a state, I've been trying to remember my practice - I take a breath, feel the fearful fluttering as fully as I can (it really only wants to be heard and understood, in all its alliterative glory...) and as I do this I also connect to the big ocean of Joy...Ah, there it is! The fear softens and relaxes its clutches a bit and I usually end up having a little smile at my own lovelycrazy expense. It's all okay!
But sometimes it's not. Sometimes it's really hard, and I feel the chaos of what's happening (both within my own small world and without, in the bigger, wider one) pulling me into its wild dance and I'm scared and I dig in my heels to resist.
Recently I've been resisting letting go of expectations I didn't even realise I had, and the resisting has been making me tired and angry and sad. It's my role as a mum of two gorgeous teenagers that is currently providing me with this particular Awesome Opportunity (as in 'What is happening here might feel rubbish but is really an Awesome Opportunity to grow and learn in disguise, honestly...') but the triggers that wake us up to where we might be stamping our feet and resisting Life could be anything. Can you relate?!
And so it's been other people who have made getting through this bumpy patch a whole lot easier for me - sometimes offering practical help, hugs or little nuggets of wisdom mined from their own experiences, sometimes sending a silly text, or just being there for me to dance with or share a laugh with in the Post Office without even knowing my name or having the slightest idea what's been going on in my own little world. They haven't tried to change things or take what is happening away, but they've just been around in their different ways, and I've felt their warmth and lovely humanness and it's been the perfect medicine. Other People are the best!
To be open about the times when we are struggling, as well as the times we're on a roll, can be important to those of us on a path like this. It gets things flowing and moving again rather than keeping things stuck, and to show up just as we are in any moment and ask for the support we need might even give others permission to do the same and receive in their turn, creating a healthier and more loving community. Win win!
And this isn't about being needy or giving our power away by expecting others to fix us somehow, but is a gloriously natural exchange that, who knows, might even lead to us all realising that we are all already totally supported on every level in any case. Maybe it's only by all of us getting intimate with our own Wondrous Mess and loving it back into shape that the collective Wondrous Mess that is our outer world will begin to transform too.
So reaching out can be a radical act...
There's scary-seeming stuff out there, to be sure, and there is also a lot of support and encouragement and Love, and if we feel disconnected or lost, or see someone else is going under, we can reach out and hold a hand, or catch someone's eye and feel part of something Good.
A friend recognises your struggle because she's been there too, and when she whisks you out somewhere to put the wiggle back into your walk, she knows that you'll be doing the same for her when she needs it. We're all in this crazybeautiful dance together, and yes, we all have our own unique moves to make and are each responsible for the little piece of Love that We Are, but we are never alone. We can choose to pretend that we are if we want to, but we are not.
More on this in my upcoming post Coming Out of the Cosmic Closet, so hold onto your hats for that one, but for now, let's just chew on this idea that supporting ourselves as we begin to remember the Love that We Are includes reaching out and connecting to the other exquisitely imperfect human beings around us. Maybe it also includes starting to see ourselves reflected in each other, which might be challenging if we widen this out to really include Everyone and Everything going on Out There in the big wide world, but hey, we're here on Earth aren't we? Got to love a challenge!
I once knew an amazing acupuncturist who helped me to get back on track when I was tired and stuck, as well as teaching me the importance of being able to ask for support and then really, deeply Receive it...I wrote a poem to celebrate him because we all need a bit of that sometimes, a bit of extra care and nourishment to help us reconnect to the Big Something that is Love, that is really Us, dontcha think?! Check it out...
Corinne looks startled as she suddenly remembers she is Alive, and Totally Supported on every level...
So yeah! Thank YOU for being there, for being you, just as you are, because you being you, in all your wonderfulmessy humanness, supports me to be me in mine. I'm sending this out as a big piece of Love just for its own sake. Catch it, play with it, pass it on. I'm saying, 'I'm reaching out to you, and am here as you reach out to me...'
Connections create beautiful patterns, just like those awesome synchronised swimming ladies in their flowery bathing caps, a kaleidoscopic dance of smiling support and fascinating inter-relatedness. Imagine what this looks like from far, far away, how the Big Picture of Connection appears from say, a different star system or distant galaxy. I bet it looks beautiful, and perhaps in a strange and enchanting language those patterns communicate something about us, incredible human beings all doing our best on this magical Earth. Perhaps they spell out words like 'Hope', or maybe they read 'This Is The Shape Of Love' or ask something like 'Does This Look Like The Future To You?'.
Who knows, but Connection is a language I really want to get better at.
Want to learn it together?
I would love to hear from you in the Comments...Let's Connect!