Cleaning up, clearing out, and getting ready for new things…

As opposed to the proverbial spring-cleaning ~~~ the cleaning house after - or at the end of - the energy of winter; the clearing of the house of all the cobwebs, all the last little bits of old energy… so that we can truly get new things moving in the energy of the spring ~~~ it seems that this fall is motivating a lot of us to clean up and clear out all that is unneeded in our lives right now.

In part, this may have been brought on by the fact that we are not comfortable keeping our social calendars going to the same extend as before the Covid-19 pandemic. In other words, we are more at home than we would have envisioned ourselves to be. And that in and of itself may give rise to (re)organizing our space into something that is suiting us better at this time.

But then again, there is always more than one reason for doing something - and as such, more than one reason for a certain energy to come into our lives at any given point in time.

And from that perspective, it raises the question why so many of us feel the need to clean up, and clear out all that is old… What are we creating the space for in our lives?

These new things are not apparent. After all, if we could envision - or even imagine - them already, in all likelihood we would be attempting to get them going already.

So clearly there is a certain (Universal) timing associated with whatever it is that is waiting for us just beyond the horizon…

And that makes it so important for us to expand our view.

To stop looking at something new as something that can never happen, because… To stop making excuses for not manifesting our innermost desires. To stop cutting off our own imagination as to how wonderful our life can become, once the newness is supported by the Universal energies…

To place ourselves in a position in which we can embrace the new things life has in store for us… whether we can envision them already, or whether they are still hiding just beyond the horizon.

In doing so, chances are that when the new things are revealed to us, we will actually recognize they are there. With an expanded view, it will be easier for us to allow these new things to unfold into our lives - even when we never even dared dream of them before…

The Flow of Life Itself

Perhaps the biggest change we are encountering in this point in time, is the change from a structured life into a flowing life. A life in which we move with the events that are happening in our lives.

A life in which we choose our direction, and adjust if necessary, and so a life in which we let go of the concept that we can only reach our goals through adhering to a plan that is set in concrete.

When we start flowing with Life itself, we may find that we need to adapt our thinking patterns. That we may have to find a new way of setting our goals and going about reaching them…

If we would look at the Flow of Life as if it were a river, then we would flow with its stream. This may seem like we would not have the same range of choices that we have always had anymore — or even like we might lose (a part of) our identity. Because isn’t all the water in the river the same?

No. Not all the water in the river is the same.

As Rumi has said long ago: “You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean in a drop.” And this means that — while all aspects of the ocean are within us — we choose which aspects of the ocean we express in our lives…

In the river this means small vortexes can form, and the water can stream faster in some parts, while in other parts the water’s surface is seemingly an unmoving mirror.

All in the same river…

In our lives this means that some things may not work for us anymore. For instance, something like “keeping things under control” has become a lot harder for us to do. At the same time, taking responsibility for ourselves in all aspects of our lives has become a lot more important.

Following the concrete steps in our plan may take an extreme amount of focus and energy — while setting our goals as intentions can give us energy. Of course the intention in itself is not enough. Yet where we used to have defined steps planned out to reach our goals, in this new energy we focus on our intended goal and take a step in its direction. If the Flow of Life starts to bring us closer to reaching our goal, then we take another step in that direction — if not, we change directions. Yet our goal (almost always) stays the same…

Another “side effect” of living in the Flow of Life is that as we are learning to choose our directions and reach our goals, it becomes harder to “swim against the current”. It becomes more and more difficult to split the stream, to canalize it, and ultimately have both streams work against each other…

Life itself flows in a manner and direction that is good, and therefore it has no reason to fight itself.

And of course the Flow of Life is not just one big stream. There will always be smaller rivers, creeks, and brooks. And while the ocean is always there, there will also be the lakes, the lochs, the inlets and the fjords…

The Flow of Life is diverse.

The Flow of Life ultimately finds its way toward wholeness, toward oneness.

Childhood Convictions

Did you have any strongly held convictions when you were a child? Something like what life should look like, or “what you were going to do when you grew up”?

If I did, I cannot succinctly say what they were, except for the fact that I always turned to nature. If I was looking for something to do, I wanted to be out in nature. If I encountered a problem, I wanted to get out in nature. If I was totally happy, how best to celebrate it than doing so in nature?

It still took me years to realize how important nature truly is to me. Yet now, when life’s twists and turns show up unexpectedly, I find that I start listening to nature…

And the question that seems to come up time after time is: What is this situation that I am finding myself in telling me about my nature? 

When a woodpecker across the road is widening the opening of a nesting block for much smaller birds, I ask myself if there are any ‘doorways’ in my life that are too small to get through? Opportunities that I am not examining for whatever the reason. Only to find that not checking what is hiding behind that doorway that is only just ajar, makes me miss out. Missing out by choice, I might add…

In this way, the convictions we held as a child can be hints as to what is important in our lives.

Now, if you - as a child - were convinced you were going to be a fireman and as life progressed you didn’t become that fireman, it  doesn’t mean that you should change careers all of a sudden. However, asking yourself why you wanted to become a fireman may give you information on things that are truly important to you. Was it the “putting out fires”? In that case perhaps you now find yourself helping others solve problems of a different kind. Or was it “being the hero”? In which case you may find yourself being a hero in your chosen field of work…

In other words, our childhood convictions can become the pathway to our core believes. Or even the core knowing of what we are here for. Of what our place is in the grand skein of things. Of how we can make a difference in the world…

That childhood conviction was not just something silly, or just something that everybody says at that age - it was something that we would remember throughout our lives, and that could give us hints which direction to go when life would be chaotic. When we might come to a point of feeling powerless.

So in a chaotic time like we are living in today, we may want to ask ourselves, what was my childhood conviction, and what does it have to tell me at this point in time?

Being and Doing

In an ideal world we are our Selves. We are the “I am” — accepting without judgement all that we are at that exact point in time. The good, as well as the things we would like to change about ourselves. 

And in an ideal world we express the person we are without reservation. In other words, what we do is a perfect reflection of who we are. And in this way, being and doing are the inner and the outer “I am” at that point in time.

Needless to say that we are not living in an ideal world. We are living in a chaotic world in which we are juggling obligations, friends, family, and social distancing… A world where in many cases our home base — which always was a place of rest and relaxation; a place where we could be ourselves without having to bother about what other people are thinking — has become our work space. A world where face masks hide our smiles, and in which we need to either have our groceries delivered to our doorstep, or exercise extreme care when going to the supermarket.

All in all, we are living in a world that is demanding us to change. Doing the things we have always done in a certain way, is not working for us anymore. Meeting friends and family now requires different settings, or even new, digital ways of getting together.

To be fair, it is not like we haven’t noticed this need for change over the past five or six years or so… Looking back, almost everybody can see where we have received those little pushes to start doing things differently — or even to start doing different things altogether. 

But it seems like we are now at a point where we cannot push this need for changes in our lives away from ourselves any longer. And this brings up a couple of questions…

• What are the things in our lives that we would like to change?
• How do we change them?

Chances are that the changes that will work best for us in the long run, are changes that allow us to express who we truly are to a greater extend. To express the “I am” in any — hopefully creative — way that we feel will bring the most joy and fulfillment into our lives.

And pretty soon we will find that this will create a new space around us. A space that fits our energy, our “being”, and a space that allows us to breathe more easily.

Ultimately, the closer we can bring what we do — how we present ourselves, where we spend our time and energy, and yes, how we are handling our jobs etc. — to “being ourselves”, or the “I am”, the more (breathing) space we are giving ourselves.

And with that is becomes possible for a calm ease of living to return to to our lives…

Fall

To me, the most dramatic change in the seasons is when summer turns to fall. And this doesn’t always happen right on the equinox — it usually happens as the weather changes... And suddenly it is time to close the windows that were open all summer long. The front door, opened every morning from Spring, all through the Summer to let in some fresh, cool air — stays closed. Outside the wind and rain spell it out: fall has arrived!

And with the cold fall weather, the rapidly shortening of the days — the trees are losing their leaves and are preparing for winter.

Inside, I have turned the heater back on, and I comfortably settle in for the colder days to come through fall and winter

But what really brings it home to me that the weather indeed has turned, and that fall is here to stay — is to find my cats indoors — having hardly any desire at all to go outside. Even the big black cat who usually prefers the freedom of the outdoors is curled up on the couch — softly snoring...

Summer most definitely is over.

This doesn’t mean that there aren’t any beautiful days left. Quite the opposite is true! Going out on a beautiful fall day, the temperatures can be comfortable, warm even. We may find that in nature the air is filled with all kinds of scents — and the leaves turning their colors are a sight to behold.

Fall — traditionally the season of the harvest — is also the season of ‘letting go’.

The same way the trees are letting go of their leaves in a final rush of awesome beauty, the dry summer weather lets go to make place for a colder, more moist environment — although there are also places where the opposite happens and the summer rains disappear in order for the cooler, dryer fall weather to emerge.

Yet, any way you look at it — it is a time to let go of the things that have been going on throughout the summer. To see the results in one final splash of color ~ and then to release it such that a space is created where something new can come into.

A new idea; a new project — or even just a new sense of something that, at least at this point in time cannot quite be defined. A whisper in the back of your mind, as yet too softly to be heard — but definitely there...

This makes this time of the year I would like to invite you to ask yourself two questions:

• What are the things in my life I can now let go of?
• What new things would I desire to have in my life?

And don’t forget to go and enjoy this new season with all of its colors, the more earthy scents, and the soft light as it filters through the trees…

First published in 2011

Who are you?

In a meditation I found myself walking through nature… As I came to an opening in the forest, I was met by a Being, radiant in light. At first the light seemed to be brilliantly white, yet in the light where all the colors of the rainbow… This Being and I looked each other in the eyes, and I could see and feel its wisdom… Then this Being asked me: “Who are you?”

That question immediately brought me back into my day-to-day reality…

Who am I?

Am I that part of me that I present when I am working? Or rather that part of me that my family knows so well? Am I totally and truly myself when I am in my own environment? Am I the person others are expecting me to be?

And if I would meet my Self, would I recognize myself?

Apparently not (…)

In this point in time, the question: “Who are you?” is becoming more and more important.

It seems perhaps even more important than ever before, to truly know ourselves. To know the reality of who we are. Not just of that part of ourselves that we show the world around us, but especially our authentic selves…

Yet, it seems that this question: “Who are you?” is not as easily answered as it may have seemed. Often it gives rise to more questions than answers. Questions like:

• Am I living my life according to my personal truth, or rather according the ‘family truth’ or even ‘cultural truth’ that I grew up with?
• Are my wishes and desires truly for those things that will enrich every aspect of my life, or are they a reflection of the wishes and desires my parents had?
• Am I living my life according to what others are expecting of me, or do I walk my own, personal path? Do I perhaps feel guilty when I choose to walk my own path, and if so, why would I feel that way?
• Do I feel empowered, or does it seem like everything in my life is ‘happening to me’?
• Do I trust myself and my energy to such extend that I have a rock solid inner knowing that I will choose the right path every step of the way?

As our clarity grows as to how we would answer these questions, we will find that we start knowing ourselves better. We are more likely to create a life for ourselves where we are truly walking our own personal path without carrying the burdens from ‘the past’ — independent of what ‘the past’ means to us, or how we would define ‘the past’ in this context — and the easier it becomes to express ourselves. As we get to know ourselves better, making the right decisions and choices becomes more effortless.

As a result, knowing ourselves will make us more productive in our endeavors, while chances are we will experience less stress as we are living our lives…

Especially at this point in time it is becoming ever more important to answer that one simple question…

“Who are you?”

Standing up for what you believe in…

Standing up for what we believe in sounds a lot simpler than is usually turns out to be, because in order to do so, we need to have a clear and succinct idea on where we stand on any issue before us. It is easy to protest something we don’t agree with, yet it is a lot harder to define what we believe in where the particular issue is concerned.

In other words, an attitude that says: “No-one is going to tell me what to do…” signals that we can take care of ourselves, and we don’t need any help from others, no matter how well intended that help is.

When this attitude leads to actively protesting guidelines or even laws because they would “tell us what to do”, it also shows a certain amount of self centeredness. 

It suggests a belief system that says that our right to make our own choices — whatever the cost — is more important than the health and prosperity, or perhaps just the “peace of mind” within the community that we are part of.

When we find ourselves in a situation that we are feeling so strongly about, one way or the other, that we are ready to protest the situation, it could be a good time to step back and ask ourselves the question why we are feeling this way… And to take a little time to look at the things we truly believe in.

Do we believe we are that the only person that matters? That our perspectives, our personal truth is so important that it should be imposed on everybody else?

Or do we believe in a sense of community where we — within the bounds of everyone’s autonomy — look out for one another? Where we are willing to follow the guidelines — even when we are not totally agreeing with them — for the greater good of the community?

Either perspective requires that we start defining what we believe in, and how we are going to live our lives accordingly. Either perspective requires thought, and even foresight as to the consequences our subsequent lifestyle would have. For ourselves as well as for those around us.

In this point in time where everything we know and hold dear seems to be in flux, where more and more changes are totally out of our control because of their nature — for instance them being instigated by nature — it seems like all that is left for us to do is to loudly protest that which we disagree with. To make ourselves heard.

And in a lot of ways, this is a good thing.

As long as we don’t loose sight of the things we truly believe in. As long as we still live our lives according to those perspectives that are truly important to us…

If ever there has been a time to stand up for what we believe in, it is now…