Category: direction

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Our Essential Nature

I believe that if we are open to learning, everything can teach us and that there is meaning in all that we experience. I also believe that there are valuable implications to everything in our lives.

Here’s an example from the other day. I grant you that at first glance it may not seem like much, but it helped me see deeper into my life.

I went to retrieve the newspaper from our front lawn. I opened the plastic bag our newspaper comes in to find that somehow the overnight rain had found its way through the bag and saturated one whole end.

Disappointed, I decided to hang each section on one of our drying racks, hoping it would be readable later in the day.

What struck me was the idea that each element, water and air, acts according to its nature.

The rain came and the water flowed naturally in all directions. It found the tiny pin hole in the plastic bag and seeped in, making part of the newspaper wet.

Water seeks to make all things wet.

Hanging the wet newspaper on the drying rack created space for the air to circulate, surrounding the paper from all directions. The air did what air does, it dried the paper.

Air seeks to make all things dry.

What has this got to do with you or me?

Quite a lot actually.

I wondered, what is my essential nature? What do I do regardless of my circumstances? How do I decide what directions to travel or what decisions to make about my life?

Fire seeks to burn everything. Earth seeks to return all things to itself.

What do I do? What governs my behaviors? What governs yours?

I want to feel joy, give and receive love, have adventures, connect deeply with others.

I want to do good things, be productive, help others, allow my heart to open wide.

What do you want to do in this world? What makes you feel most alive? What lifts you up and sets you free?

I want to be like water, air, fire, and earth. I want to move freely and act from my essential nature.

But what is my essential nature? Is it what I want, or what I feel I need or is it something else? Is it what rises out of me without any conscious thought?

For me, I believe I am here on earth to be an expression of the divine. I realize that may seem like a bold statement. That’s okay with me because I believe we’re all here for this reason, to live lives of connection, to be each other’s kin (family) and to live a joy-filled life.

I believe this is our essential nature.

Sure, other things get in the way. We become distracted by life’s events and demands. We become influenced by other’s actions and behaviors. But, if we look a bit deeper inside ourselves, I believe we’ll notice our essential nature is to be at peace, live in harmony, love and be loved. Acting from this place, we can naturally flow, just like water, air, fire, and earth.

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Plotting Your Course

Do you know where you are headed in life? Are you going in a direction with intention or are you going with the flow, allowing life to guide your steps?

This question got me to thinking about how folks have navigated their lives over the course of time, especially the ancient seagoers.

For me, the thought of getting in a boat, leaving shore, and heading out beyond sight of land creates a good deal of concern. I suppose if I could sail along the edge of land, I’d be okay, but crossing an ocean by myself, no way.

I wondered how the early seafarers managed to arrive at their destinations, especially if they were going somewhere no one had ever been before.

I did a little research and discovered that they used the sun and the North Star (Polaris) to help guide them. Always knowing where north was became extremely important to them as a reference point. While the sun was up, they could easily track their east/west route and at noon they carefully watched the shadows the sun cast. They also became familiar with the constellations in the night sky as navigational aids. There was even a reference to watching the flight paths of birds and the direction the fish were swimming to help set their course.

What does all of this have to do with us?

Well, one thing it suggests to me is, what do we use as our aids to navigate our lives?

No doubt there are many ways for us to move through our lives and I’m wondering if I asked you, could you tell me how you do it?

Do you have a set of intentions, a kind of road map for what you desire to experience in your life? It strikes me that without intentions, it is very difficult to arrive where we say we want to go, for if we don’t have any set points we often drift an aimless path.

I’m not saying there aren’t times when it’s nice to kick back and relax, but it seems to me that most folks want to experience certain things in their lives and without knowing what they are, it is much more challenging to have them.

One thing that may help is to have some mid-points between your starting and end points. Sort of mini goals that keep you on track. Often it is easier to make advancements when your goal is nearer and seems more practical. Breaking down the process can be especially helpful when you start to veer off course from a mid-point because you can bring yourself back and not stress over how far afield you are from your end point.

What other navigational aids are there in reaching our intentions?

Perhaps you have many you use, and I hope they always help you reach all of your dreams. However, if you could use a few suggestions, here are the ones that come to me.

Although I’m not usually good at this, it has been one of the most important pathways to succeeding in my life…ask for help. None of us know everything, so it’s important to have your own North Stars in your life, folks who want to help you. And once you’ve asked for help, accept it when it’s offered to you. Learn from what’s given to you. It may not be the precise way for you, but it may spark something in you that does create a path forward.

I also believe we are all gifted. We came here with an idea in mind of what we’d like to experience while here. Each of us has an inner knowing. So, believe in yourself and then surround yourself with others who believe in you and who share your dreams. They can be cheerleaders helping you reach all of your mid-points and all of your end points.

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Spots

If you thought about it for a moment, how many references come to your mind for the word, ‘spot’?

If you’ve been reading my posts for a while now, you’ll remember that my mind doesn’t always travel in a straight line. Often, I see new routes and explore different directions.

So, when I landed on the word ‘spot’, many things came to mind, and I thought I’d share some of them with you, ending with one that may alter your life.

Looking down at the carpet on our floor, I noticed several spots. I wondered how they all got there, and something occurred to me. Two different ways of thinking, objective and subjective.

Objectively, it’s most likely that someone (and it could have been me), spilled something on the carpet and obviously, something that couldn’t be cleaned, otherwise, I wouldn’t still see it.

Subjectively, the cause could have been carelessness on someone’s part (animals included), or it could have been a simple accident, and no one’s fault. This led me to wonder what the difference between the two is.

Perhaps in the first case, the one responsible doesn’t care and in the second case, the one responsible may care a great deal. I wondered how I determine which one it is? Do I judge solely by their reaction to the spot? And how does my judgement impact how I feel about the spot and the one responsible for putting it there (me included)?

Another reference to ‘spot’ is the saying, “x marks the spot”. In some cases, this means that there is an ‘x’, perhaps on a map, which exists to indicate something significant is located there. Maybe the ‘spot’ is the source of buried treasure or marks the place to dig, so that a project can be accomplished. The spot is important, not in and of itself, but because it serves as a guide.

I wonder, are there ‘spots’ in our lives which would help guide us, if we knew they were there? Is it a case where they are already there, but we don’t recognize them? If so, what would we need to do, so that we would take note of them?

After a bit of consideration, it seems to me that everything in our lives is actually a ‘spot’. If we pay attention, everything is here to guide us, especially our intuitions.

A scary ‘spot’ is the one found on an x-ray. Once located, it usually creates immediate anxiety. It’s almost impossible to calmly sit back and wait for the results. Our minds are inclined to fill in the absent results with worst-case scenarios. Although it might be nothing but a shadow, we’re strongly tempted to believe the ‘spot’ will be life threatening.

This kind of ‘spot’ generates panic and fear and for good reason, especially under certain conditions.

So, what else can do we do about this kind of ‘spot’? Are there objective and subjective ways to approach it or do they blur together, making our path forward difficult?

Can we see this ‘spot’ as some sort of guide? And if so, how can it give us direction?

This feels to me like one of those decisions where, to use another expression, “the rubber meets the road”, meaning the point at which things become the most important.

This is everyone’s own personal decision point. And we each arrive at this ‘spot’, sooner or later.

If you have a guide who aids you, this would be the time to connect with your guide.

But, if you have arrived here, and have done so many times in your life and haven’t found a source, a guide who offers you wisdom and comfort, perhaps you’d like to consider this invitation. It is an invitation to form your own connection directly with the divine.

The process is simple. Sit back, close your eyes, breathe in and out gently and allow your body to settle. Relax into yourself. If you hear or see any objections or obstacles, acknowledge that they exist and promise to talk with them later, then release them, let them go. Allow yourself to feel a sense of freedom. Give yourself a chance to create some space inside you, as an opening to the divine, by whatever name feels comfortable to you. Imagine whatever ‘spot’ is creating a challenge for you and ask for help, then sit in stillness and listen. It may be a quiet voice at first, but over time, it will become a great source of strength, comfort, and wisdom. It will become a sure guide.