Watching the Watcher
Life is full of twisting, turning, bending, and pulling; familiar words in a dancer’s vocabulary. Much of this happens with little resistance when we are children, the movements are natural in the interactions with fellow movers during the action of play. As I have matured I have discovered that I put up barriers to the fluidity of flowing through life; developing attachments and judgments often based on incorrect information. Without taking time to process those incongruencies we find ourselves battling life. However, based on my experience I don’t think that is how life is meant to be lived on a regular basis.
Do you remember the last time you played with total abandon? I mean really let yourself go, falling into moments of total freedom, allowing your laugh to emerge from deep in your belly, not caring what anyone thought or who was watching? I think even adults should have moments of total abandonment to the universe and laugh until tears roll down our faces and just be silly for a few hours; running through a park making snow angels, which is what I did as a young adult after I accepted the invitation and presented sacred dance in a church. In those moments of embodied prayer lost in Mystery before, during, and after; something amazing and beautiful happened and the memory can generate a sublime state of euphoria even decades later.
Interestingly enough we cover-up that sense of joy, wonder and awe as we mature—taking on the trappings of society for gain, achievement, and rewards; until we learn better. I suppose that is part of the process of maturing; being drawn to the glamours of the world until we discover how unsatisfying that experience is and thus develop and harness the skills of the inner life that prove to be counter-cultural.
This past weekend, I had the opportunity to observe myself and others as they allowed themselves to be drawn into vulnerability by walking an indoor labyrinth. The facilitator, Sissie Wile was a kind, gentle and loving spirit assuming her role with dignity and grace. Her very presence exuded a state of elegance rarely experienced in today’s chaotic unfolding. She yielded a space of reverence allowing the participants to feel their own inner cognizance and afterwards gently drew out responses to questions she had provided for reflection after the walk.
Ah, to walk in that grace! God’s grace is a gift, both humbling and ennobling.
To take the opportunity to watch myself watching others was transformative. Throughout life we experience many transitions. What has happened for me and you as well, I suppose is that in the witnessing of things in our life and globally unraveling sometimes quite rapidly and at other times painfully slow can be disconcerting. Sometimes we need to step outside of ourselves, become the watcher giving us time to re-calibrate. Lori Jones in writing about motherhood offers some insights from which we all can benefit:
Times of transformation, whatever they might be, are opportunities to find new connectedness; to choose and consolidate the things that matter; to bring repressed selves out of the shadows into the light; to forgive; to grow layers of nacre, of resilience, of acceptance.
And so it is when we step back into the creative stream of vitality and wholeness during times of unraveling and reconstruction; things can appear quite different. I don’t know for sure! But, maybe we begin by listening. Simply turning off all the distractions that call for our attention and just sitting with ourselves or another in quietness and reflective conversation; a little soul care. Without interpretation or even offering suggestions if you are listening to someone else, you are present. We are not used to listening and just Being! Imagine what a different world we would be creating. Put another another way, Dr. David Hawkins writes:
The skillful are not obvious / They appear to be simple-minded / Those who know this know the patterns of the Absolute / To know the patterns is the Subtle Power / The Subtle Power moves all things and has no name.
It seems so simple doesn’t it? To not talk over somebody, to stop trying to be right, to be quiet when you want to fix a person or change a situation with force; to mentally toy with a thought of judgment—when you are supposed to be listening—based on your experience, but not fully understanding the lived experiences of the person you are with. (It’s almost revolutionary to be so considerate, humble, and aware of another human being, but that is who we are according to New York Times Bestselling author, researcher, scientist, and visionary Gregg Braden who says:
We are YH VG God Eternal within the Body.
I didn’t make that up. It’s a direct quote from one of Braden’s books, The God Code: The Secret of our Past and the Promise of our Future. Without reading anything more into those words—that would mean that we have the ability to engage in some pretty amazing ways of being in the world. We can practice being compassionate co-creators on this planet, now. We have the ability to care for Mother Earth, to care for all of our neighbors, to conserve energy; to aid in keeping the ecosystem balanced. Braden goes further to say:
The universe is a vast, interconnected web, and we are all integral parts of it.
Some days I find myself stunned by how things are unfolding around me. And then, I adjust my thoughts realizing that I cannot be a passive observer to the events happening in my life and around me. As a unique and invaluable contributor to society I can and must choose differently as I walk with dignity and grace through this evolving universe.
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things unseen (Hebrews 1:1).
What more is there to say?!
Create something beautiful today!
thank you!