Hero’s Journey
I have never felt so much at home as I have within the walls of this house, within the embrace of these ancient grandmother oaks. This is where I traveled to come home to myself. This part of my journey was about reclaiming all of myself I had left behind–given away to people and places that no longer embraced the growing and expanding ‘me.’ This is the ground where all parts of my soul decided to return.
So now I can, with the deepest gratitude, release this place and step forward onto my path more fully than I’ve ever experienced…ready to move and shake the world a little more with light and love and transformation.
The container we choose….or that calls us…is an important part of our life experience. It’s the chalice that holds our lives as we negotiate the hero’s journey.
In this journey to wholeness we are called to adventure and face trials and tests. We experience dismemberment of our lives–our hopes and dreams–and wander in the desert of our own lives. We sacrifice things we have accumulated….material possessions but also emotions and thoughts that have possessed us. All of this is laid down with love, with gratitude, in order to clear the way for something ‘more.’ We are resurrected and become dancers of the world, masters of our inner world and our outer lives. And then….then, my friends…we are able to fully embody the light within and do our good work in the world in miraculous ways.
Every threshold along the way offers choice: stay the same or step through and grow into the fullness of being…the fullness of living.
Home is the place that nurtures us, offers rest and rejuvenation. It is the place where roots go deep and drink deeply from the waters of life. For this amazing home, I give thanks and offer it to the next souls seeking peace and joy…and delight.
The Calling
Particles of light
Eons of time and space
Aching with love
Compelled by the
~ Simone Lipscomb
As I reflect back on my life, the promise I made to follow my heart’s calling has been the most prominent method of determining each next step. Oh, how I wish there was a black and white formula that could be easily shared with people to determine each next step…but it involves more than carefully calculated rational thought processes. Much of the journey of the soul is discerned through the language of the heart, feelings and intuition.
Helen Keller wrote, “Life is a daring adventure or nothing.” Perhaps there is no greater truth about the Journey.
A few months ago I begin to question aloud…Where? When? And the resounding answer every time was, Wait…you will have more information in March…just wait and you will know.”
I had a book signing scheduled in Crystal River, Florida March 17th and while there…at the book signing….felt the stuck energy of the past several years ‘whoosh’ open. WHOOSH! Something shifted within me and I knew that the long-awaited answer was beginning to be answered.
I stayed a night with a friend on the way back home about two hours north of Crystal River and remembered how much I love the area around High Springs and Ft White. But….really? Florida?
After arriving home I was significantly freaked out. I thought I would be moving locally, downsizing to a smaller home and staying in the area…and that may be the case. But the energy is opening towards the freshwater springs of Florida. And as I type this fear begins to rise. It’s one thing to keep it in my head and another to share it with the world before I am 100% sure.
The other day my mom and I were texting about decisions we are both making. In an effort to encourage her to follow her heart, I told her if I had listened to all the negative comments people had and their judgments about my life and the decisions I’ve made through the years, I would never have created the work I’ve put out into the world. But it’s challenging not to listen when people begin giving you their opinions and telling you what’s best for your life. So fears arise when I share something that might happen….because everybody has an opinion….
Show me, is my prayer. How can I serve this magnificent planet? Where can my work best take root and grow? 
As I was floating in the water–surrounded by sleeping manatees–while at Crystal River a few weeks ago, I heard myself saying, I don’t spend enough time in the water. I listened to what I heard myself saying.
My work is centered on our Ocean planet….water. Being underwater or in the water is imperative to the work I am called to do and being able to be in or under the water on any and every day is what feels like the exact right next step in my life’s Journey.
What’s your next step?
The transition from one season to another can be challenging for plant life; perhaps none more challenging than winter-to-spring. When the first blast of warm air arrives, the sleeping ones awaken and without hesitation begin sending fragile tendrils of proclamation out into the balmy breezes. YES! It’s time to grow!!
So often on the Gulf Coast, we get those first warm days….80 degrees the last weeks of February this year….and the profusion of pollen soon follows along with flower buds and unfurling bright-green leaves. They take a risk, to bloom so early…to put so much of their energy into their first burst of growth. There’s always the possibility–the probability–that cooler weather is yet to return. The time between seasons can be a risky time for growth.
As human beings, we experience life as a reflection of nature. Thresholds are a time of change. We want to leap into the new direction awaiting us yet there is wisdom in patience, in waiting for that sweet moment when everything aligns and our stage of growth is ready to catapult us toward the next stage of our journey.
We yearn for new direction and deeper resonance with our path. The anticipation of expansion builds and finally, we can hold back no more. We burst forth with our beauty shining, our light beaming. What a wondrous experience. What an amazing thing to witness.
It’s wise to be patient and when the time is ripe…BLOOM!
