Drop Out to Drop In
Drop out of the external world to drop into you. There is a myriad of external distractions. Most you can do nothing about. So don’t pay attention to them. There’s the adage, that notes, if you want to change the world, change yourself. This is simple reciprocity.
Realize that you are the opportunity to change. You are the change that can change yourself. Focus your attention on you, drop into you. The way to change yourself is to pay attention to your thoughts, your feelings, behaviors, and how you interact with those thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. By observing them, you can understand, recognize opportunities to choose something different. Therefore, change and changing your experience of the world because you have changed yourself.
Want to change?
Drop into you. Change happens when you change. Externally, chasing things to change will get you to run all over hell. Dropping into you is the opportunity to change. Change yourself, you change your world.
Meditation
Meditation is examining yourself. Specifically, your thoughts, feelings, behaviors, etc. Discern what you have been told (instructed) versus what you know. There are many accoutrements (clothing) that you have picked up to wear relative to the time, experience, and culture in which you are embedded. At a soul level, it doesn’t matter what, where, when, why, or how of these accoutrements are worn. Recognize experience is an opportunity to investigate, examine and evaluate. To discern this label, role or way of being is you or who you wish to be? They are opportunities for learning to become and be your divine self.
At another level, it is observing (awareness) of your responses (thoughts, feeling, behaviors) to what you experience. Yet at another level it is trying to gain control of your responses. But discovering the game is to neither respond nor not respond, but merely observe the parade of the good, the bad and the ugly. Birth, life, and death; realize it is also all the same. The observer and the observed are the same being. To be or not be, do or not do, doesn’t matter. Got Confused?
Transformation: Being the Divine Reflection of Your Divine Self
Each level is just another layer of the onion. Examine each layer and peel it off. What is at the center of the onion? You’re ineffable and divine. The divineness of being. The divinity of being allows or gives you the knowledge that you exist… a reflection of your divinity and in knowing this, your existence. It is the progression from questioning “who am I? To discovering who you are, to the proclamation of “I am…!” Then you can choose to be. And the question is, to be what? … And to do, when, where, and how? Recognize it is the opportunity to an expanded and become a reflection of your divine self and being.
Winter’s Review
This is a late winter post. First, let’s review what is winter’s opportunity. Winter is the opportunity to work with a Gardner. The gardener’s three key tasks are first to evaluate what went well and then the garden what didn’t go well and what do you want to change or do differently in your garden next growing season? The second task is to discover, renew or the rebirth gardener. It is an introspective endeavor. And the third task is to find what you want to grow in your garden during the upcoming season.
Early winter is an evaluation to determine value and what is not needed. Stuff not needed is surrendered, given away or left to the composters to breakdown and recycle.
Middle winter is diving deep finding who you are? You are claiming your divine inheritance. An inheritance that you exist, that you belong and your being-ness. This is where you transform. A death and rebirth where you shed the old notions of yourself and birth a new being; a phoenix rising.
Mid Winter… Solstice
This second task is to introspect, and to dive deep. In this blog, I’ve often referred to the big question as “who are you?” It’s a big and intimidating question for some folks. It takes a bit of skill of introspection, meditation and commitment..
However, another approach is to ask, is “what is your passion? What do you love to do?” This is a easier question because you’re not directly confronting yourself, i.e., the good the bad and the ugly. So, what’s your passion? What do you love to do? Or what is your joy? What this does is to orient and align your thinking, feeling and behaviors to all going in the same direction. This is an appropriate approach for folks that have not quite figured out who they are. But gives them the opportunity to introduce themselves to their being via what they love. Thus, providing them a positive framework to introduce and discover who they can be. This could be in relation to folks who have a been traumatized, who have rarely been appreciated or loved. Or not yet mature enough nor able do the deep introspective work of take on the question of “who am I?”
The point of mid winter’s task is to discover the new you. A phoenix rising, compared to late winter’s task is to discover and use its wings to fly.
Late winter’s task is where we get to play with our dreams and imagination. We are planting seeds to germinate and send down roots into our awareness. The awareness starts as dreams and what if’s? This imaginary playing is learning and figuring out if this is truly what we want to become. Not all seeds planted will grow. The seeds that germinate and grow are the ones that we nourish with our attention, imagination and playing. This is the time of imaginal being. We get to play in our dreams and imaginations. It is a sweet time to just hang out and play with and about yourself. It’s like being a child again dreaming and playing. It is “what if” I am a magical being. At some point, we proclaim this is who/what I want to become. This becomes firmly rooted. This is our meaning and purpose. Our being; to do this. It is our intention, will, commitment and determination… “so be it!” The phoenix is ready to fly. We then we move into the spring. It becomes a time of preparation, planning and gathering resources and tilling or making ready the garden. And the phoenix imagines various places of where to fly.
Late winter is the time of seeing one. Of becoming inspired in and by one’s imagination. Seeing yourself, i.e., imagining yourself and claiming yourself to be. And then the spring is the leaning into becoming. Summer is “do one (yourself).” It is the season to grow, blossom, and produce fruit. The fall is the ripening of the fruit, i.e., to “teach one… to share.” Which becomes the seeds for the future.
There you have it. Late winter is seeing one, seeing yourself doing it. Imagine yourself doing it. Spring is to prepare and learn. Summer is to do the actual growing and blossoming. Teaching yourself to become via your experience. Being one is continuing to teach yourself and others to become. It is the phase of becoming to be and step into your being. As for this being one, you become the fruit. You are fruitful and share who you are. By sharing by, you are an inspiration for those who are open/receptive to see a possibility for themselves. By being one, you are revealing or showing others it’s possible. Thus, an inspiration; helping them to “conceive” of what is possible/potential. There you have it. The cycle of see one, do one, teach one, and be one.
Late Winter
What does a gardener do in the late winter? They wonder what if? And wander around searching for the seed that has germinated or a plant that might become the prize of the next growing season. Seed catalogs come in the late winter via the mail. It is the time when we get to wish, dream, and imagine what our garden may become. And the phoenix discovers a map of where it might fly.
While we’re still in an awakening hibernation; sleeping late and wondering around in our dreams. It is the time to continue to relax, refresh, and renew. Seemingly to taking it easy. The work is unseen and comprises of dreaming, imagination, playing and looking for an intuitive seed that has germinated. One that has sprouted in the unseen realms of our dreams. Nourished by our imagination, the germinated seed sends down roots. The roots grow and establish themselves in the dark and unseen realm. At some point, the seed sends up a shoot, searching for light. When that shoot breaks the surface of the soil, this is when the gardener acknowledges and announces, this is what I’m growing in my garden this season.
Early Morning Twilight
Another way to look at this is more at a fractal level. Think of this rest, relaxation, dreaming, and imagination happens early in the morning (which is late winter). Before you even open your eyes, or wake-up, and get dressed. It is a sweet time of emerging awakening, a dawning morning twilight. Where birds tweet intuitions of joy for the pending day. Spend a few minutes, just lying there quietly, with eyes closed, and imagine and wonder about what to do today. It is a time to conceive and bring forth, to birth from the unseen (but felt) realms into the realm of existence and being. This is done via intuition, inspiration, and intention. There is interesting research that associates theta brain waves with creative, intuitive realms. It’s a sweet time to play in your imagination, intuition, and symbolic intelligence. It’s kind of magical/transformative time, connecting and aligning what you might do and accomplish for the day.
Some of you may have recognized that we are looking ahead to late winter. The reason for doing this is so that you can look forward and anticipate how to use this sweet time, your awareness, and what you might do… “to play” when late winter occurs. Currently, we’re in at the solstice and the deep winter. This is the time of doing the deep dive into your love, joys, and passions. By following your joy, you discover who you are. Or in a more direct manner, ask yourself who am I?
Season of Joy
This is a season of joy, dreams, and sharing. It is a season of sensing opportunity to discover oneself, one’s passions and an opportunity to play and imagine. If nothing else, be nice, kind, and share. And be grateful and graceful with each other. Some folks feel a bit lonely, depressed or lost. If this is the case, consider reaching out and help others who are less fortunate. Such as visiting, caroling, helping to write a letter for someone in a nursing home. Volunteering in a soup kitchen, delivering meals or volunteering in an animal shelter or humane society. If nothing else, just smile, acknowledge another, and note happy holidays. If you are lonely… be friendly! Share and give generously what you want… and it will be abundantly returned.
Side Note about Intuition and Manifestation
By playing in your imagination and dreams, it sets you up for recognizing when something is manifesting (manifested) for you. In this last phase of winter, by playing in your imagery and imagination you can later recognize, connect, and know the universe aligns and manifests. This is because you have already been there in your imagination at the event horizon. You will recognize the emerging potential, and the already done-for-you manifestations. Thus, will grab the opportunities that lie before you.
For example, a few weeks ago, noted to myself it would be nice to have a more comfortable office chair. A week later while looking there were some comfortable office chairs, but the quality was not what I wanted for the cost. Then two weeks later, while taking the dog out for her 6 am walk… in the pouring rain. There, 100 feet from my house was a quality office chair sitting near the curb with a free sign. In the dark rainy morning, it needed a bit of repair; figuring it was free and I could afford looking at it for bit of repair. Immediately took it home. Later found that the adjustment had broken yet could be repaired with 2 small screws. A bit of research revealed it was an expensive ergonomic therapeutic chair. Was this intuition, manifesting, synchronicity, or just luck? It doesn’t matter how and why this happened. What matters is that you are open to and aware of the possibility. Act (feel) accordingly… which is to be open, surrender, and be grateful. AND gracefully keep the flow of blessings flowing. Winner, winner, chicken (or tofu) dinner… Or as always, feel like a sweepstakes winner, because you are already one!
“Some folks trust to reason
Others trust to might
I don’t trust to nothing
But I know it come out right…”
(Playing in the Band, Grateful Dead, Hunter/Weir, circa 1971)
Blessings and Joyful Holidays!
Tim