01 Mar March; the sound before the roar

Between stimulus and response, there is space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.

-Victor E. Frankle

Right now in my home Vancouver Canada, my yard is covered in melting snow, I can see the branches of the cherry blossom tree outside my window almost blush pink as they prepare to bloom in the not so distant future. To a casual glance they would seem as asleep as ever, but we know better, we know that there is a stirring that happens well before the eye can see it. We are stirring, or being stirred by the great good forces that govern our bodies.

The word for March is Release. In the literal sense of the word, the seasons are shifting and slowly winter is loosening its cold grip to yield to the awakening pulse of spring. Individually and collectively, we are being called to turn in once again to decide what comes with us and what stays behind.

The most efficient way I have found to do this is to ask myself what I long for and be willing to hear an honest answer. I must also believe I am worthy of receiving it and trust that I can make space for whats next.

Longing has its own future destination, and it’s own seasonal emergence from within… (it) is nothing without its dangerous edge, that cuts and wounds us while setting us free and beckons us exactly because of the human need to invite the right kind of peril.

-David Whyte

To live is to risk, Life is a wild thing that we cannot, despite all our good intentions, control. All we can do is put ourselves in the right kind of peril.

The right kind of peril will open you, it will challenge you to be bigger and participate in the creation of your life. The right kind of peril will have you lift your eyes to what is possible rather than settle on what needs to be maintained. The right kind of peril may have you singing in the shower again and laughing more often.

The wrong kind of peril is when we forget that the gift of our life is in our hands.

When we align our longing with our sense of self worth, the letting go just happens.

One definition of release is to walk freely. What dear ones, are we waiting for? Are we willing to release the idea that we do not have value and that our dreams do not matter? Are we willing to release the fears that keep us bound to an outer authority so we can follow our own inner longings and walk freely in the direction we choose?

Will we choose the peril that challenges us to love and grow, to create and experience the best of ourselves?

This is the pause before birth, the deep quiet where we move deeply down into the depths of our intrinsic inner resources before we bloom.

The sound before the roar.

It is sacred, and it is yours. The beauty and the challenge is that no one gets to decide how you move forward, but you.