What if it's not about getting it right?
As many of you know I am leading an online class/journey starting this Saturday (Join us!) that I named Step into the Spiral. In nature, everything moves in cycles and spirals. We birth in a spiral motion. A fern unfurls—spiral. I wanted the title to hint at that the solution: to take a step and let the momentum lead you to the next step.
I am really good at this—most of the time, but I am admittedly coming out of a stretch that I was not so certain in my footing and it weighed heavily on me. I have been reflecting a lot on that: the uncertainty and how could I have let myself drift so far away?
I know part of the answer: There's no growth in what we already know.
I remember talking about my son's birth with my mid-wife after the fact (spoiler: we didn't have the birth I imagined) and how it had gone so unexpectedly. As I remember she shrugged her shoulders, intimidating That's birth and then she said something I can still hear: "You were all in. The universe never misses an opportunity like that."
What if it is really more about learning and dismantling than it is about achieving? For the new readers, let me explain. I am Type A. I thrive on achieving, but (and this is a big but) if I am only achieving then something is lacking. If we are striving or learning or letting go of one pattern for another or openly enjoying ourselves (internal landscape motivators) then we achieve, but we don't care if anyone notices because we can feel it. It's a whole other level of accomplishment.
I love and crave the support of my friends, and I have learned that some markers go largely unnoticed by the other and yet are groundshifters for how I perceive myself inside to out. Maybe that is one of the markers of that growth.
I have very few star crushes, even fewer these days; they don't hold my attention; however, I used to avidly watch Cesar Milan. His show was about energy work and dogs—a fave combo for me! I dug a little more into his background as a pop culture reference point while I was teaching bodywork. He lost everything at one point, his dog Daddy died, his wife filed for a divorce and he tried to end his life. When he awoke in the hospital he was surrounded by fellow patients that were fans that told him how much he had impacted their lives.
The interviewer asked him what he had learned from being successful, and Cesar Milan answered with an insight I have never forgotten. He said, "It's easy when you are successful. Everyone wants to be around you. Everyone wants to help. The real learning comes when you lose everything. Who is there then? I learned how to rebuild my pack, at work and we became international, but," and there was a look in his eye, "I built my pack from a very different place with different people who all held the same vision."
I truly feel that this year, if you hold the vision, you will see demonstrations back from the Universe, from the Elementals, from whatever you believe in that is orchestrating my thoughts and the breath and keys on the board, that you are heading in the right direction, that there is support waiting for you. Acknowledge it and watch it grow. This is a year of change, you can read about it or you can close your eyes, sit still and feel it. Whatever works for you.
May we learn from the times that are hard what is aiming to prepare us for our next grand rising.