In our community call last week, we were discussing how to navigate this rapidly shifting world. Not just current politics, but the
onslaught of technology, materialism, and fragmented connections that is leaving many feeling disoriented, ungrounded and scared.
I shared how at a recent wilderness skills gathering, a dear amiga and I were contrasting our awareness of earthly drama with the magnificence and magnitude of the cosmos. We were sharing some, even juicy drama, recognizing that we have to process this at times because we are complex humans having a complex experience. And yet, every time we looked up, the brilliant stars sparkling in the vast desert sky, helped us remember how small and invented our dramas are, and that what is essential is timeless and enduring.
It’s all about where we put our attention.
And it’s important to remember that our attention is the current capital.
(and everyone is vying for it)
So while it is so tempting to stay plugged in to figure things out when an onslaught of chaos is projected, it is very helpful to turn our attention inward and to our spiritual connection.
One of our community members asked me what this looks like in my days. And it dawned on me that my version of this inward and spiritual focus has been with me ever since I read a small sweet book years ago called, Practicing the Presence with Brother Lawrence. He was a monk and chef in a monastery and throughout the day would talk with Jesus, explicitly asking for His guidance from moment to moment, throughout the day, on even the most mundane things.
As a young person, I resonated with this, because this was what I intuitively did as a foster child. The humans in my life were ever changing, so I always leaned on my connections with Jesus, Mary, Creator and Mother Earth. I felt the potency of their steadfast presence with me even as I moved from home to home.
And as I have embraced ancestral ways, it is clear that this ongoing presence is our birthright. When humans are surrounded by the magnificence of the starry night sky, the brilliance of the Sun, the gift of life giving water as rivers, streams and ocean, by verdant plants and animals and regenerative soil, we cannot ignore that we are being held and guided by so much love and regenerative creativity.
After the gathering, we drove south and visited a friend in a remote town near the Mexico border that is designated as a dark sky area. I was blown away to see the billions of milky white stars in the wide bowl of pitch black night sky, not just above but all around us. In my 50 years of life I had never seen so many, never knew they were there.
And yet they have been there all along.
The stars that have guided our ancestors
are more obscured,
but they remain.
Steadfast.
And we are meant to be fully alive, listening and unfolding with it all.
All week at the skills gathering, humans sat around fires, had conversations, laughed, sang songs. Children climbed boulders like wildcats. Drumming always in the background… it was a glimpse into the sparkle, aliveness and connection that we are all meant to have. A reclaiming of the village westerners have often lost due to the real hardships of life in nuclear families, with financial stress, oppression and family dysfunction, etc.
And yet what I knew then, and what I know now, remains that
when everything falls apart
(or feels like it is falling apart)
we can hold ourselves
and pray actively,
engaging in conversation
and listening for answers.
And the listening part is key.
I shared that I intentionally do not listen to many podcasts or media, and largely live unplugged so that I can be in this conversation throughout the day,
and have the quiet necessary to hear the still small voices of my inner child and my guidance.
Lately, I have been asking myself, ‘If I lived in a pueblo (pre-media) what would I be focusing on?”
The answer is generally my family, friends, community, food, land tending and relationship. It’s a compass that points me back to what I actually have some control over. And it calls us back to this moment, this moment where our life actually is.
I also like to talk out loud to both my inner child and my guidance, which I’m pretty sure Brother Lawrence did as well. Talking out loud and listening to all the guidance available to us, helps to repattern our neural pathways toward connection and peace.
For my inner little girl, when I speak to myself with love and care, I am being present with her and immediately I feel less alone, confused, scared.
I let her know that ‘no matter what happens, I will be there for her, loving her and getting the help she needs.’ Daily, I ask how she is feeling and what she is needing, and pray for guidance on how to most lovingly tend to her.
We can mother/parent ourselves with this steadfast presence. Knowing that no matter what happens, we will be there to respond.
And when we reach to our spiritual connection,
we also remember that there is
an unending steadfast presence
to hold us.
Far far greater than any little dramas
or man made chaos
and something
more like the million, billion shining stars in the sky
and beyond
Beyond.
xoxo