Where did the summer go? I know it was here, because I remember hot days, and ocean, and sun on my face. Yet, it is now October already, coming to the end, and as I reflect on the past few months, I wonder what happened that I don’t have a clear sense of a nice and leisurely summertime.
“The more life is a rush; the sooner it’s a blur.”
The blur of that time is sprinkled with memories of moments and events, both rich and transformational, as well as fun and adventurous. Conducting two Right Livelihood Quests, in two different locations, and witnessing beautiful, touching, inspiring, and transformational experiences of the various participants. Traveling through the Yellowstone Park, Montana, Idaho, and then, later, down to Big Sur in California, seeing beautiful new places and visiting with friends. Exploring Nature and little towns along the way. Playing with Tobi in water, pretty much everywhere. Moments of presence and deep connection with Alison. Selling my place of the past 14 years. Buying a new house. Planing renovations. Spending a weekend with a company of men, at the New Warrior Training initiation retreat through the Mankind Project. Exploring and experiencing the inquiry into the correct masculine energy and presence (this book by Richard Moore provides great overview). Moments, snapshots, experiences, like a kaleidoscope that is ever shifting and changing, in its dynamic, chaotic, and magical way. Click. Click. Click.
Something was clearly “in the air” for me, calling me to remain open, notice and acknowledge and say Yes to all that was coming my way. Some call it being in the flow, or the zone. Others might call it following the call of meaning and vocation. I agree. It was merely life, calling me to step into all that has been crossing my path, whether through my own intention and effort, or by other Divine Wish or Plan.
Did I miss the summer? I might have, and probably more the association that I have with summer as hanging out and doing nothing (and I have no idea where it comes from, because it hasn’t really happened much anyway in a long while). More importantly, though, I felt alive and engaged with life this summer, focusing on things important and things transformational, allowing my passion to guide my actions and my focus. With plenty of fun blended into the mix. It is true that I did not spend as much time reading books on the beach, or cycling places. Yet, when I think about the moments of allowing my heart and soul be touched by a person or an experience, and probably (and hopefully) touching others through something I conducted, I think it was worth every moment of not cycling or reading a book.
“You were sent to a shape of destiny in which you would be able to express the special gift you bring to the world. Sometimes this gift may involve suffering and pain that can neither be accounted for nor explained. There is a unique destiny for each person. Each of us has something to do here that can be done by no one else. If someone else could fulfill your destiny, then they would be in your place, and you would not be here. It is in the depth of your life that you will discover the invisible necessity that has brought you here. When you begin to decipher this, your gift and giftedness come alive. Your heart quickens and the urgency of living rekindles your creativity. If you can awaken this sense of destiny, you come into rhythm with your life. You fall out of rhythm when you renege on your potential and talent, when you settle for the mediocre as a refuge from the call. When you lose rhythm, your life becomes wearingly deliberate or anonymously automatic. Rhythm is the secret key to balance and belonging. This will not collapse into false contentment and passivity. It is the rhythm of a dynamic equilibrium, a readiness of spirit, and a poise that is not self-centered… . When you are in rhythm with your nature, nothing destructive can touch you. Providence is at one with you; it minds you and brings you to your new horizons. To be spiritual is to be in rhythm.” – John O’Donohue
