“Leisure is not the privilege of a few who can afford to take time, but the virtue of all who are willing to give time to what takes time – to give as much time as a task rightly takes.”
Brother David Steindl-Rast in Gratefulness, the Heart of Prayer.
Dear Friends,
As I write, the final full super moon of the year is hanging in a pink and blue morning sky, directly outside my window. It’s light really does seem to be penetrating deep within, inviting me to shed any falsehoods, love the fulness of who I am and celebrate all that has come to completion with this moon cycle.
It seems that I have truly given consent to a life of navigating the mysteries and this week, they have been coming thick and fast! I’m searching for the golden thread to lead me back through the labyrinthine path I’ve been following! In time, my thoughts will make up a Full Moon Feature.
Vivid dreams and powerful quotes have flooded through me. Some, disembodied voices (messages directly from my soul?) calling out in the moments before waking, entreat me – Embody the Mother . . . don’t let the brambles ensnare you. . .
A recent entanglement with brambles on the Camino dos Faros, leaves me slightly scarred and very aware of trickster briers, that lash out snaring passing legs, just as they feel they’ve made it in safety. The guardians of that threshold demanded and received blood!
Other messages, although more familiar, are just as challenging!
"Don’t ask what the world needs.
Ask what makes you come alive and go do it.
Because what the world needs is more people who have come alive."
Howard Thurman
Don’t ask what the world needs?
The words sat in stark contrast to the feeling of being burdened by something I thought was going to help me.
When Navigating the Mysteries materialised, it needed some structure, and a way to integrate my humanitarian and contemplative mystical sensibilities. Recognising my limitations, (I have a poor track record with consistently posting on social media) I knew I needed some ongoing source of inspiration. And so, the idea of following the International Days seemed good.
Something happened though.
Not only had I completely underestimated the sheer volume of International Days, I had not recognised my own tendency to overidentify with the healer archetype – As Clarissa Pinkola Estes puts it – “the “heal-everything, fix everything” compulsion is a major entrapment”, founded in the deeply hidden belief that I (through Navigating the Mysteries) have to prove that I have value, so that I should be allowed to live.
I was beginning to feel drained, as if the needs of the world were squawking, demanding hungry cuckoo chicks – too large for my nest and a death threat to the smaller lives that are rightly mine to nurture.
Yes, I have great compassion for those in need, and a half-heartedness has crept in. Following and posting about The Days was not consistently making me come alive.
I was reminded of a moment on the Camino when I had been angered and stormed off smouldering, in the wrong direction.
Realising my mistake, and adjusting my course, I had to pass the patronising gestures of the one who had triggered me! As I turned the corner out of sight, the lid came off in an explosive rage.
After 10 minutes of so, I managed to grasp onto some sanity and yelled “Stop” at the top of my voice!
Why that memory in relation to this story? Hmm, that’s still a mystery! But facing my inner patronising voice and listening to my own advice, I have stopped!
6 months since the initial New Moon Gathering my life has changed dramatically. It’s time to reflect, review and reset my heart and my course.
This doesn’t mean that I am abandoning the causes highlighted by the International Days, rather that I am calling in greater discernment and not abandoning myself!
There will be a pause.
"I am willing to give time to what takes time –
to give as much time as the task rightly takes.”
The radiant full moon has illuminated other aspects of my life too.
I realised that I had set the dates for the upcoming Containers for Growth course from a sense of urgency and scarcity.
Urgency reminiscent of emergency response work in post-conflict zones – an old way of functioning, in which, in the face of abject need, the barest of fare was served up in next to no time.
Although once necessary, this way of being is not conducive to the rich smorgasbord-style feasts that I wish to contribute to the world.
And scarcity.
Scarcity from the fear that if I did not maintain an all-singing-all-dancing persona, the moment would pass, and any potential participants disappear. I release that old paradigm, relax and reclaim my faith in being in the sacred flow.
Ah, I can feel the life-force returning already!
Containers for Growth, my recently announced new hatchling, is not ready to fly – It needs more time, more feeding and forming and care.
"I am willing to give time to what takes time –
to give as much time as the task rightly takes.”
I am experimenting with two iterations of the course.
The first, at a time more suited to those in Europe, Africa and the Americas will be held twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7th – 16th November. Each of the 4 sessions will last approximately 2 hours
The second, more suited to those in Europe, Africa and Australasia will be held once a week, on Thursdays. Each of the six sessions will last approximately 90 minutes and this course will contain an additional final session on creating and holding sacred space.
Including kinaesthetic, embodied practices, we’ll consider which of the wonderful qualities carried by the healer archetype are appropriate to emulate. We’ll determine the condition of our hearts and cultivate the characteristics that support adventurous exploration into our inner or external worlds.