On The Wings of Dreams
The Spirit of the Earth
Those Good Old Dark Months
I was going to write about creativity for the month of November, but another, stronger impulse came to me and is still appropriate for this darkening time of year. It’s all about how to work with our struggles and challenges in positive ways.
As much as we all want to be beacons of love and kindness, there are internal struggles that we face everyday, some of them with the strength to bring us down. While there are often external reasons for our inner turmoil, we don’t always have the ways and means to do anything about them. In other words, our need to “fix it” is thwarted, at least in the short term.
What we are left with is a frustrated unhappiness that can lead to depression and anxiety. Now, I am not qualified to speak to this issue in any professional, psychological way, but there are definitively spiritual, energetic elements that offer possibilities for transformation. In this universe of cycles and seasons, everything has its place – including the not-so-pleasant, often infuriating and semi-paralyzing season of emotional overload.
Our world and our lives are constantly asking so much of us. Infinite choices are all around us, and yet we can feel like we are trapped with no choices at all. So while you may be able to make a choice between scrambled eggs and oatmeal for breakfast, there are increasingly limited choices on how to create your life, which leads to emotional overload.
Here’s how we turn the thing on its head. All of that emotion and unhappiness is also personal power. A very over-used term, I know – but there it is. Call it will power or kundalini energy or whatever you like. There’s a lot of it inside each one of us. When we are depressed or afraid, that energy can put us into lockdown or frighten us into bad choices. Excuse the terrible metaphor, but your inner plumbing becomes clogged and causes quite a stink! Time for the plunger!
STINKBUG!
The first thing you can do to free up this blockage is to get physical. Olivia Newton-John’s song aside, physical activity of any kind can loosen up the inner clog and get our energy flowing properly again. If you are like me and have a mental aversion to the term “exercise”, then don’t think about it that way. Instead, think in terms of movement and making your body happy. Our bodies love to move and crave activity. Walking is the simplest way to get things moving, but if you can’t get outside and have nowhere to walk, dancing is another great alternative. Put your favorite music on the stereo and spend a half hour just moving to the musical rhythms. Doesn’t matter if you can’t dance, you can move and music is a great motivator.
The second approach to moving this energy is to simplify. In other words, instead of looking at the long list of “have to’s” and “shoulds”, narrow down your focus. What is right now? What is possible at this moment? Narrow it down to one thing, or if there is no thing, then allow yourself to 100% have some R & R. Movies and bubble baths are good examples. One of my favorites is to reread a favorite novel (it’s like going on a vacation of the mind). The point is to stop your mind from its endless struggle to figure things out. If there is no appropriate action to take, take the opportunity to just BE! Give your mind a good place to rest and let the rest go.
Lastly, all of that energy can be directed into something creative. Ah, but that is next month’s theme! (Shamelessly, I’m trying to hook you in to coming for next months Reflections!)
Seriously, we are way too hard on ourselves most of the time. The Universe is very good at sending us just what we need to keep evolving, and sometimes it can be a bit too generous. That’s when it is helpful to remember we are all on our own hero’s journey. There are monsters and guardians, mentors and angels to help and hinder us. The good news is that we can all be angels for each other!
Peace-
Tee
p.s. I’d love to hear from you. Email me at teespirit@gmail.com