Finding yourself no matter where
you are
by Christine Thomas
A few years ago I was in a training session learning
how to operate a hand held GPS (Global Positioning System)
unit. The instructor told us that as soon as you turn
the unit on it spends a few seconds connecting with
the satellites, locating true north, and then, bingo,
it’s locked in and you can know exactly where
you are.
Wow, I thought and even said out loud, “That’s
fantastic, to always know within seconds where you are
and the direction of your true north!” A chuckle
or two from some classmates let me know that someone
else was seeing this as a metaphor, too. How splendid
to have a tool to use to find yourself no matter the
situation you’re in, no matter where you are.
I definitely wanted one of those.
The desire to have such an inbuilt way of knowing where
I am along my path has never left me. I’ve made
it part of my life’s work to help myself and others
find such easily accessible, unerring orienting mechanisms.
I’ve left myself some cairns, some markers, on
my journey of discovery that I’d like to share
with you.
The starting place, the ground on which you stand at
the beginning of each day, is key. I’ve learned
to start my days greeting the spirits of the directions.
It seems right to me to start the day with praise and
thanks, honoring the spirits of the four directions
and the above, here and below. This not only opens my
heart to spirit all around me, it locates me as one
part of the glorious whole.
The energy of intention feels right, too, when I begin
the day in a sacred manner, with joyous praise. And,
if later on I’m asking for help, I know I didn’t
just start out saying please, please, please. The beginning
point on the map, on my journey of the day, is a place
of gratitude, awe, praise, love, wonder, and joy. This
is the ground I stand on from the beginning and is where
I wish to return.
Then as I move out about my work for the day I want
my internal reference points tuned to what has most
meaning for me. I trust if I could only know what Goddess
wants of me then I would surely know my path and my
destination. One form of meditation that I’ve
been practicing is what I call stepping into the arms
of Goddess. I light my candle for the Goddess Brigid,
she of the sacred flame and holy well. As I hold her
image in my mind I gaze into the flame.
I feel the flame of her love in the candle and burning
in me. I envision her ablaze in golden light, like the
candle flame. I see her opening her arms and I step
into them, into her golden light of love. I feel her
loving embrace. I hold onto this sense of being with
her for as long as I can. Then, from this place of her
embrace, I let what I desire for the day come into my
mind. I set the intention that I want my desire, my
will, to be aligned with her will. From this place of
feeling her loving embrace I trust my heart to know
my next steps.
Even before I might say my prayers for my loved ones
or for the world I want to first be connected with her.
Even if my logical mind is unsure, I trust my connection
with her and I move out into the day from that place
of connection. I also call on my allies, the ones who
will help me through the day, who will help me to remember
this connection, to give me what I need to do my work
in the world, and to appreciate this magical journey.
I choose to connect with Brigid because she is the
face of the Divine that is my doorway to that which
is more than words can say. You can feel the embrace
of Goddess by getting to know her by any of her 10,000
names. When you find the one who calls to you and get
to know her by being with her, you will have a fiercely
strong inner reference point. And if you just open your
heart you will notice her all around you, you will see
her in the faces of the women you meet, you will feel
her loving presence as a most trustworthy reference
point.
Then, throughout the day I have other guides or reference
points, my own satellite-beacons, to keep me on track.
One of them is the natural world. Or maybe I should
call this the web of millions of reference points. Tasting
the wind, hearing the birds, smelling the snow, watching
the clouds, feeling the dirt, sensing the tides, worshipping
the moon – all help me to get out of my head and
into my animal self, the part of me that instinctively
knows where I am, internally and externally.
Even if we have been removed from the natural world
by domestication we still know this – as evidenced
by our fascination with the Weather Channel. Not just
to know if we need our umbrellas or not, we feel some
security in knowing what is happening in Nature. And
when we no longer trust our senses we turn on the TV.
I say we can quickly re-access our animal wisdom by
opening our senses to the natural world.
Just the other day I was struggling with making a decision
about a project to get involved with or not. My mind
was thinking in dollars and timelines, risks and responsibilities.
I was feeling unsure and uncomfortable so I stepped
outside for a breather. Within moments I forgot what
had been worrying me – I saw a pair of kestrels,
the small falcons, doing their courtship thing. I heard
a meadowlark singing. I noticed a bank of tumultuous
spring storm clouds moving in.
In those brief moments outside I remembered the basics
of life and death, of joy and possibilities. I didn’t
have to think at all about the decision or how to make
it. I just allowed myself to remember the magic all
around me. When I went inside I knew what was most important
for me to consider is this decision.
Being in my head too much is a sure recipe for disorientation.
Not to knock my fantastic logical mind – it’s
great at many forms of problem solving and daily life.
It does, though, get distracted easily, convincing me
that my body is just a work-horse, just here to do the
heavy lifting. Not so! Getting back into my body is
a sure way to remember where I am and where I want to
be. When I allow my body to orient me I am almost always
rewarded with a huge “you are here” sign.
When I notice my breathing is shallow or my shoulders
tensed, I can check to see what track I’m on.
When I pay attention to my belly – not just to
stuff it with some junk food but to find out what it
really wants – I am reminded of what I need for
deep nourishment of body and soul. And when I tune in
to how flexible and fluid I am (or not) I get a sense
of how I am responding to the flow of energy around
me. Am I just caught up in the rapids or am I steering
my own canoe? The wisdom of our animal bodies is sure
and strong. We can trust it to show us the way.
I get my mind on board with this orientation process
by reminding it to keep me in touch with my values.
In life coaching we talk a lot about our personal values
– those intangible ideas that inform who we are.
Values can be compared to the key points in the owner’s
manual that I often wished would have come with me when
I was born. (That is until my teens when I would have
chucked it, only to be desperately wondering in my 30s
where on earth I put it.) I’m not talking about
the idealist shopping list of Girl Scout type values
like freedom, integrity, honesty and the like.
We all like to think those admirable qualities are
important to us. And they may be, but knowing them as
words from a list is not the same as knowing, beyond
a shadow of a doubt, in your bones, that you have personal
power that feels like “running with wild horses
in the moonlight”, or honesty that feels like
“soul’s truth shining in your eyes, baring
all”.
It takes some reflection and attention to be crystal
clear about the handful of values that must be present
in our lives, but when we’ve done that we then
have Stonehenge-size markers to follow on our path.
Checking in each day or in different situations to see
how we are living our core values is an awesome orienting
tool.
A personal joy meter is another handy tool for orienting
yourself. Keeping my joy meter pinging on the high side
is a way of knowing I’m on the right road. You
know - the follow your bliss advice. You need a meter
to see if you are doing just that – moving with
the flow of joy. Marks on my joy meter measure how quickly
I am moved to sing or laugh, how easily I can let things
roll off my back, how often I am in awe, and how generous
I am with my smiles.
When I forget my essential nature and my life’s
purpose I get stuck in loops of fear, worry and despair.
I get unhappy, confused, and lost. Riding on the fairy
wings of joy gently and shamelessly nudges me back in
the direction of my heart’s true north.
It’s helpful, too, to end my day’s journey
in the same way I started it – with gratitude
and praise. Before the candle flame I once again connect
with Goddess for she has blessed me in more ways than
I can ever number. I give thanks to all the allies who
have aided me on my path this day. I can drift into
dreamland, falling back into the arms of Goddess, comforted
in knowing I can find my way there and back.
by Christine Thomas, Personal Life Coach, Visionary,
Midwife of Dreams
I love to work with women on a spiritual path. Check
out my monthly phone circle of women coming together
to support each other in living our connection to Earth
and Goddess at www.hawkview.net