Month: July 2011

Chrysalis: Emergence At Hand

Turnarounds 1:

Chrysalis: Emergence At Hand

 

Pre-emergence before the chrysalis
Photo by MK Salovaara

This is the first in a series of life lesson stories that illustrate the powerful and invigorating TURNAROUNDS that we are all capable of creating for ourselves, in the sacred circle of our words, reflection, and inquiry.

 

Your Journey

Have you been on a journey of personal growth, spiritual development, and profound transformation for awhile now? Maybe you feel like something just isn’t happening; it’s incomplete; OR you feel like you should be there already?  Maybe you’re tired because you feel like you have been on this journey your entire life. “There has to be a better and simpler way,” you think to yourself.

Like you, I feel as though I have been journeying long and often alone. It’s been a precious voyage of inner discovery. And it has seemed like things have been “so close.” It’s like the mathematical asymptote: The line approaching the curve and never arriving.

A Puddle of Ineffectiveness

One day, I confided to my coach, Alan Hickman, that I felt exactly like a little puddle of ineffectiveness that wasn’t going anywhere. Thanks to Alan’s deep listening, reflecting, and training in inquiry, he stood with me in the sacred circle to turn it around.

First, I owned that, “Yes. It’s true. I’m right now in a space of being not very effective.”  Deeper inquiry told me a different story from what I’d been judging myself about and beating myself up for.

(You know, the old riff of “I’m stuck. What’s wrong with me and why can’t I move?”  And I’m sure you’re familiar with the “WHY AM I NOT THERE YET????!!!!” conversation.)

The Caterpillar Turnaround

The metaphor that arose in our discussion was the caterpillar. It had felt for so long like I was melting down from the inside, and I didn’t know who I was or what I was about. Everything seemed to be shifting and changing.

Then the Ah-Ha.  Suddenly I realized that I was indeed looking at the inside of the chrysalis.

Here’s what I could now see: By loving and embracing the stuckness, the ineffectiveness, the right-where-I-am-ness, I was able to acknowledge myself for exactly where I am — like the butterfly looking out from inside the chrysalis. Observing myself with love and compassion, I can see that I am right where I am supposed to be.

Butterfly on my Ankle

A few weeks after my conversation with Alan, this chrysalis narrative continued, as I continued to “notice what I notice.” As I practiced Qi Gong meditation in the garden on two separate days, a butterfly landed gently on my ankle. That was my signal to share this narrative. The butterfly wings are flapping to strengthen themselves for emerging from the chrysalis and getting ready to fly.

(Interestingly enough, I also observe that my drops of essences from Jane Bell, called synchronistically enough, “Emergence,” are nearly complete.)

The Message from Ovo

Another message reaffirmed my understanding. A visit to Cirque Du Soleil’s brilliant “Ovo” show, provided the image of the chrysalis in an aerial interlude. Pressing against the sheer fabric, the butterfly finally emerged high in the air, flapping its  (her?) gossamer wings.

Affirming Our Shared Emergence

These words too emerged. “Share this story and this image. For many are in the chrysalis and can use a guide, the powerful validation  that where they are is just where they are meant to be.  Help them to understand they are seeing from inside the chrysalis, and that their time of emergence is at hand.”

And so, for midlife, best-half-of-life creators of all kinds, global transformers of consciousness, messengers, change agents, thought leaders, awakeners, authors, and healers: I send greetings and encouragement from the chrysalis.

I’m with you when I say I know you are longing to step into your potential, to create transformative projects, businesses, creations, books, messages, ventures. I know you’ve been feeling for a long time stuck, stalled, scared, not good enough, or like you should be there already. Maybe you feel like you are trying to push the river to MAKE SOMETHING HAPPEN.

Emergence — Not Emergency

Allow yourself in this moment to relax. Know that you are enough as you are; and you are where you’re meant to be. Allow yourself to just BE in the soup of transformation. Be willing to flap your wings to strengthen them for your own emergence.  (Try practicing in this safe space by bringing your story from your chrysalis into this community of comments.)

Shift the DNA of Your Experience

What has been most surprising for me in this turnaround is that by embracing the stuck, stalled, scared puddle of ineffectiveness, I’ve literally changed my patterns and shifted the cellular experience of myself.

It starts with an honest acceptance of, and even surrender to, exactly where you are right now. Realizing and embracing that you are still taking shape  — you, your project, your creation, all together inside the chrysalis — creates a powerful self-recognition. More powerful still is to embrace your whole seemingly stuck self  — completely free from judgment, and with love, appreciation, and gratitude.

And so you can. It’s the best prayer and meditation ever.

Emergence complete
Photo by MK Salovaara

 

 

 

 

Partnering with the Power of Nature

To the East, over Lake Michigan a mile or so away, the sky is navy blue, even now. Last night, more than 12 hours ago, the forces of nature — wind, lightning, hail — created a dramatic light show. Great forks of lightning illuminated the sky. The power of nature was palpable as the hail flung itself against the windows.

So grateful, then, to be inside, in our house. Outside, some of the plants in the garden of Shangri-La took some damage. From my office window, I spot a few holes in the plate-sized redbud leaves. The ligularia, not under the protection of a tree, was torn to pieces. Lots of leaves came down in the heavy winds and hail. I’ve taken a sweeping-meditation break to move them into piles to pick up on the next break. All in all, we are grateful for the minimal damage.

The power of nature is dramatic, yet embracing it as a partnership not a war can make for an experience of integrity, wholeness, oneness. The prepositions are important here: with Nature; in Nature; of Nature. And *not* against or over Nature. That’s the misstep.

We as a species are still learning, and there remains much we do not know.  Mysteries remain that the scientific method (sorry to tell you) will not unravel. And yet — these mysteries, this other kind of knowing and knowledge, can be accessed in other ways.

How? Those prepositions are the key. It’s starting with the heart, the compassion for all on the planet and the planet herself, Gaia. We, and all beings, both seen and unseen, are worthy of our places here. And notice that we are here together. We are here together at this time for a purpose. Our mission is to engage within that continuum of relationships in all the many manifestations.

We are moving from the old model of “power over nature” to partners with Nature, learners and students in Nature,  beings of Nature. Yes, we experience AWE in the raw power of nature, while at the same time, consciously engaging with the Earth and her creatures to listen for the lessons we are now able to hear and perhaps even embody.

If tapping into the messages from the animals is the way that best draws you into conversation with nature, I’d like to introduce you to David Wodtke, aka Pine Tree. His focus is on Earth-Service over at: http://earthservice.blogspot.com/ David shares messages from the animals that offer powerful ways to learn from the wisdom of the creatures.