03 Jul July: Into The Storm

When it’s over, I want to say: all my life
I was a bride married to amazement.
I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.

When it’s over, I don’t want to wonder
if I have made of my life something particular, and real.
I don’t want to find myself sighing and frightened,
or full of argument.

I don’t want to end up simply having visited this world.

—Mary Oliver

The mountain is gone. Soon, if I’m lucky, the stars will appear, bright in the night sky undiminished by the city lights. I am away with my kids as I write, in the town of Whistler, breathing rain fed air and dreaming about the energy of July.

June blackened us around the edges, the heat of truth can do that to a person. And integrity, which is derived from integral or whole would have brought up belief systems that we haven’t thought of for a while. Hopefully we have had the space to fully welcome them back so they could share all they needed to share and are ready to head out for good.

Through all of the reshuffling that was going on for me personally, I managed to hear a message that brought my head up for air. And it was simply this, slow down and enjoy  more. It’s timely advice that dropped into my heart right when my life was in a chaotic spin.

June asked a lot.

Life often demands a lot, but the simple truth of what is at the heart of my longing rang true. I don’t want to be so caught up in my drama or ‘busyness’ that I miss my life. July is coming in like “whoa cowboy, where do you think you’re going?” Time to get that wild head out of the hurricane and back into the roses.

Life is not going to happen sometime out there. Summer is here now, to shower us in light. Can we bear it?

Now is when we taste fresh food from the garden, see friends, step outdoors and into the elements. It’s here, as life is hurtling by we must grab the horse by the reins and return our attention to whats being offered now.

The first theme for the month of July is living sanctuary, to remember that the safest place to be is the sanctuary we create inside of ourselves. What needs to be cleared out and weeded so that inside your mind, body and spirit is the place to be replenished, held, and supported?

I know for me, this is ever evolving. For many years my mind was not a safe place. Riddled with self doubt, I danced from depression to anxiety in a seemingly endless storm. At some point I realized, that the only was to escape the storm was to face it, let it break me, let it change me. And change me it did.

That brings us to the second theme of the month, transition. To be alive means that we grow. To grow means we are shape shifters stretching into more realized versions of our selves. As much as we watch parts of ourselves die; stages of our life, seasons, passions, we also bear witness to what is being born, what we get to experience if we are willing to move forward through time.

We sacrifice more then we know attempting to keep things the same, frozen and unmoving. Attempting to stall our own evolution out of fear only sets us up for a harder journey, (believe me, I’ve tried!) Wisdom would advise us to let go. Let go into the current and totally accept where we are, no sneaky denial this time just clean clear acceptance of what is.

“This could be a good time! There is a river flowing now very fast. It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid. They will try to hold on to the shore. They will feel they are being torn apart and will suffer greatly. Know the river has its destination. The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off into the middle of the river, keep our eyes open, and our heads above the water.”–Hopi Elders’ Prophecy, June 8, 2000

This could be a good time! Sumptuous and full, tender and sweet like the figs ripening on their trees. The changes are here FOR us, not against us.

Trust in the safety and security of your inner sanctuary so that you can let the transitions reveal what needs to go so you can move forward.

With love always,

Jacqui