Cultivating Spaciousness ~ Part 1

Ferry Views ~ Puget Sound ~ Seattle ~ November 2010

 I adore the expansive skies of the Pacific Northwest!

It seems funny to say this, but there's a whole lot of nothin' going on around here these days.

Well, not nothing really, but *much*less* than could be happening.  

(From an outside perspective, anyway.)

And it's intentional.

I have simply lost any and all desire to hurry or be overly busy ~ or actually busy at all, for that matter. My spirit is truly calling me to slow (even further) down and continue to embrace the wisdom that can be found in solitude and silence.

It is a very restorative time ~ and it is proving to be quite rewarding.

My spiritual studies and self reflection continue on a daily basis.  {I am almost half-way through my year-long yoga teacher training ~ and that, in and of itself, is enough to rock my world!}

All of my decisions go through a much different filtering process now than they used to.  I think much of it has to do with my happiness project ~ and really honing in on where I find my joy.

I have long admired the concept of voluntary simplicity, and I dare say that I believe I am getting the hang of it!  (It involves much less striving and much more peace than what used to fill my days.)

Even well-meaning, good-sounding, admirably-intentioned opportunities are being left unattended because I find I am perfectly content with the simple, yet abundantly rich, routine that life offers me right now.

In talking with a dear friend earlier in the week, I likened my situation to that of digesting food.  You've got to take a break between meals to let your body digest and utilize what you've just consumed.  I am finding this to be true on my spiritual path as well.  Too much of even a good thing is still....well... too much!

In the midst of this spaciousness, there are a lot of changes going on in and around me.  (Interestingly enough, a great deal of it is being worked out in my dreams.)  Absorbing and adjusting to these transformative aspects of BE-ing requires time for digestion and integration.  Just like our computers, each time new software comes on board, a reboot is necessary!

Amazingly, many synchronicities surround me on an almost daily basis ~ enough to confirm that I am indeed on the 'right' track.  (I had two BIG intuitive hits/manifestations last week!)

If I'm sounding rather cryptic here, I apologize.  It's just that I seem to have trouble putting into words the nuances of all that is taking place ~ mainly because it's unlike anything I've ever gone through before.  

I wish I could say I coined the term at the top of this post.  However, the amazing Wayne Muller gets the credit.  His book A Life of Being, Doing, and Having Enough is brilliant!  Please visit his site and take advantage of whatever wisdom you can soak in.  (Here's an excerpt from a great blog post of his from last year.)

"To relentlessly force the tender wisdom, thoughtful reflection, and perceptive honesty of the human heart to conform to the ridiculously impossible, inhuman speed of the world, its effortlessly generated images and mind- driven technologies, is to do violence to our most precious, valuable treasure: the necessary guidance of the human heart. Without it, we may get more and more done, and push ever faster through the gauntlet of our to do list, but we may never, in the end, catch up to anything."

Hmmm...the necessary guidance of the human heart.

Perhaps it is that very landscape that I am discovering.