Today I Grieve – And Experience The Fullness of Life

Do you take the time to grieve the losses in your life? Do you think its important to do so?

There are many reasons we grieve. Some are obvious, others hidden, but all affect us in some way. Often profound ways.

Today I grieve recent and not so recent losses.

The loss of connection with old friends who meant a lot to me.

The loss of people who are no longer living.

The loss of connection to place.

The loss of deep meaningful community in our society.

The loss of a perceived simpler time.

The loss of my old self.

I grieve these things because I must in order to feel passionate about the things that are in my life now, at this moment. All experiences must be fully lived, fully felt, and fully completed.

Grief is one side of this process.

So is joy,

so is despair,

so is love.

All of these make up the full experience of our life.

So today I feel my grief as fully as I can muster. And open myself to the whole spectrum of emotion. Of life.

Following the Signs: Are Healers Stodgy?

A few weeks back I woke up earlier than I normally do. I also did something out of the ordinary for me when it happened that particular day.

Normally when I wake up early I stay in bed and read or simply meditate until I fall back to sleep. On this particular morning instead I got out of bed, went to the kitchen and picked up my phone. I didn’t know why I had decided to do that but something urged me in that direction. I opened the Facebook app on my phone and there it was – a post made by a Facebook friend who was having suicidal thoughts and was clearly distraught and looking for help. The reason for what I had done became clear. I was simply following the wisdom of the universe without realizing that was what I was doing. And if you’re wondering, the friend got help with his immediate needs.

When you become more in tune with yourself and your place in the universe you will notice things like this happening. The universal spirit guiding you to do things, situations unfolding in a way that lead to important events, synchronicities conspiring to put you where you need to be in order to do your work in the world.

We are all in different stages of a process of self-discovery. Part of mine has been to learn that I have always been a healer. I spent a large part of that life attempting to block out those parts of myself. Pushing people and thoughts away in many cases. Actively denying my true purpose and causing myself to suffer in the process. Feeling like an outsider and wondering where I fit in the grand scheme of things.

Only more recently have I begun to discover some of the reasons why, and begun to embrace that conversation. Honestly I still have a long way to go – but I am so grateful for what I have already found. For each of us this is a life-long journey, continually building on top of what has come before.

I recently started reading “Way of the Peaceful Warrior” by Dan Millman. It’s also a movie, which I watched a few weeks ago as it was recommended in an online workshop I was doing. The premise of the story is similar to that of anyone finding their way, finding true peace and happiness in this life. Going on a journey – we’re all on that journey. The same message I am now sharing with you. There was a reason I signed up for that workshop, as you can now see!

In the book the main character is learning from his spiritual guru, and each lesson brings him closer to his true self. I have been lucky to have many friends and guides along my journey. The guru in the book has a “business card” that states: “Specializing in Paradox, Humor and Change”, and he incorporates humor and joy into many of his lessons. This really resonated with me. I’ve had some challenge with the image of what a healer or a spiritual person is supposed to be like. I often see a serious, stodgy, often unrelatable person in my mind’s eye. But the lesson here is that they don’t need to be any of those things. They can be funny, relatable, quirky, goofy, or whatever else they want to be. The underlying message and the ultimate teaching is the same.

And in fact it is much more effective coming from someone who is being who they are to their core. Living their own truth and being themselves 100%.

So I encourage you to follow your path – the one that is uniquely yours. Pay attention to the signs coming at you from the universe. Maybe read a book that was made into a movie that was recommended in an online workshop that the universe told you to take part in.