If we accept the premise that there are no coincidences in life then we enter what I am calling an “alchemical mystery.” Alchemical because as we grow we have the opportunity to make gold out of the drudge we may have started with (or visa versa) and a mystery because the series of coincidences can guide us rather than our little selves trying to control everything. As a long time reader of science fiction fantasy, those terms enliven my heart – I want my life to be a mystery and I enjoy the processes of all things alchemical. My reader will just have to indulge my tastes.
It is a lot more fun to live a life where you don’t know where you are going exactly than to plan, fret and try to coerce an otherwise uncooperative universe into doing what YOU (the little you) want it to do. Or at least this is becoming true for me and I have a few examples.
Like millions of people I started 2008 planning. Only this year I had no real idea of where I was going so rather than planning for particular things (little me planning) I opened it up to the alchemical side of things. Having been trained as an artist is very useful here – artists become comfortable when they face those big white pieces of paper that they don’t know and can’t precisely control what will come out on the other side. There may be zen in it (if I better understood zen), but I know that there is flow to it, using Csikszentmihalyi’s (1990) discussion of flow (which I would call an alchemical state) where people enter a zone (as the athletes understand it) and “magic” happens. Art requires focus, flow, and entering the zone and so did my planning session this year.
I won’t bore you with the details, suffice it to say that I came out with a diagram with four arms, two representing things that work in my life now and two that are the energies I want more of. I couldn’t n tell you all that I thought about or what the parts meant because I was largely moving on instinct. When the drawing that represented what my little mind might call a strategic plan felt “right” I printed it. Now it resides above my head and since part of the picture is a growing body of writing and two book proposals, I occasionally add words around the diagram.
Synchronistically, I was listening to a Deepak Chopra tape (2007) in which he leads his audience through exercises to identify their archetypes. I have seen this type of work before and it didn ‘t “click – this time it did and I adopted the archetype of ….(drum roll)…..(you guessed it) the alchemist. Being visual I went to the internet to find pictures of alchemists and …..(drum roll again) they look just like my office looks when I have these large planning documents up covering all my cabinets – many things going on, different sections of the office in use for different things I am doing, etc. I like to have everything out where I can see it – and evidently this has been the case for people who think like me throughout the ages.
Feeling satisfied that I was on the right track, I started to use another Chopra (2007) idea and as I go to bed at night I scan my day – then ask the universally connected part of myself (the bigger than me, me) to watch my dreams in the same way. Great stuff! While I may not remember my dreams exactly I can ask when I wake up what was that all about – and my other knowing self gives me an answer.
Enter new or refinements of old ideas and we’ll see the mystery of unfoldment in action once again. The facts are:
1. I have said that if I was to come back to the US and/or lead another reinventing life retreat that the universe would have to open the possibilities because I couldn’t see how it was going to happen.
2. Years ago when I did something called, The course in miracles, (Foundation for Inner Peace., 1992) one of the exercises that did not make sense was, “There is nothing you need do.” What did that mean? I could almost hear myself (small self) argue with the words on the page.
3. In my work as a university professor I am studying transformative education – this took me to a book by Loder (1989) who discusses the Christian stories of transformation.
4. Oprah Winfrey is evidently recommending a new book by one of my favorite provocative authors Eckhardt Tolle (year) Name of book and I got it to listen to on my iPod.
5. There is another Deepak book (2006) Power, freedom and grace, sitting on my desk that I haven’t quite gotten to that I want to add in my Reinventing Life database.
How do all these separate items – coupled with my asking myself when I wake up the meaning of my dreams have to do with following the mystery? The message that came to hit me over the head not once by three times from three different authors (Loder, Chopra and Tolle) was (there is that drum roll again) – my small (what they call egoic) limited self can’t control anything but the bigger connected to the mystery self can have a great time sitting back and letting the flow take me to interesting places. Interesting place number 1 at the moment is to Colorado in April. I received an email yesterday from an old business colleague who will bring me in as a guest speaker for a few days. While I am there, if all is meant to be, I can meet some people and get the next reinventing life retreat going. I will also keep my eyes and ears open in case there are other reasons I am meant to be there and doors may open that I can’t quite imagine.
The dream sequence last night cinched it for me. Mid way through the night I awaken feeling pressured and burdened (not an unusual set of feelings when I am trying to control things) to find that in my dreams I had taken on one too many things and the conflicting deadlines had me running (gee, I wonder if any of my readers have ever experienced this?). OK fine, I noticed it and went back to sleep. As I awoke this morning I felt at ease, upon asking what that was about I “heard,” this was an example of how it feels to let the mystery lead, “There is nothing you need do.”
WOW!
(Chopra, 2006, 2007; Csikszentmihalyi, 1990; Loder, 1989; Tolle, 2005)
Chopra, D. (2006). Power, freedom, and grace: Living from the source of lasting happiness. San Rafael, Calif.: Amber-Allen Pub.
Chopra, D. (2007). The essential spontaneous fulfillment of desire: The essence of harnessing the infinite power of coincidence (1st abridged ed.). New York: Harmony Books.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow : the psychology of optimal experience (1st ed.). New York: Harper & Row.
Foundation for Inner Peace. (1992). A Course in miracles : combined volume (2nd ed.). Glen Elen, CA: Foundation for Inner Peace.
Loder, J. E. (1989). The transforming moment (2nd ed.). Colorado Springs: Helmers & Howard.
Tolle, E. (2005). A new earth: Awakening to your life's purpose. New York, N.Y.: Dutton/Penguin Group.
No comments:
Post a Comment