NATURAL ELEMENTS
In the midst of planning a surprise party on two days notice, I found myself feeling so uncharacteristically peaceful and calm. I was completely “going with the flow”. I should have been worried about the guest list--about getting everything I need in time--about keeping the secret, but I was not.
* * * * * * * * * *
With all that was happening, I felt drawn by the stones, moving intentionally and fluidly…gently guided by some invisible force, but feeling it as it it were as solid as stone. It mattered not to the stone beings that I was throwing together a party. A quartet of crystals was coming together. The energies of wind, water, fire and earth swirled together and took crystalline form so that we could hold these ephemeral entities in our hands. So that we could touch that which cannot be grasped.
We have tried. These physical bodies have wanted to capture and hold the forces of this world. We have tried to command the waters (taking point from the creatures who have found a harmony with them--the beavers). We have tried to hug the winds (harness her power). And we have tried to know the earth (exploring and mapping her).
We did not seek to know the forces of nature in friendship. We sought to control them. We wanted control over them because we feared them. This seems to be the nature of our species. We fear that which we do not understand…and that which we fear, we try to control==to master…and if we can’t control it, we try to destroy it.
We have shown this to be true time and time again.
It’s time to try another way. It’s time to lay down our arms and surrender. It’s time to know those who we have made enemies of. It’s time to see them...truly see them, without thought to how an association with them might affect us. It’s time to befriend all who live here with us. All have beauty and purpose. And all are so interconnected that to do harm to ANY part is to harm the whole.
* * * * * * * * * *
So here I was in the midst of pressured preparations and I found myself feeling surprisingly peaceful. At one point I realized something utterly delicious. Not only was I not stressed, but I was enjoying myself. I was actually having fun. A novel idea…actually enjoy the party you’re throwing! I was moving in flow. Very much the way I moved when gathering the stones together. It was a harmonious movement to the rhythm of the pulse of life. It was a fluid flow. There is no resistance – just a continuous, plasticine motion. It is effortless. Not because the path is straight and easy, but because there is no “force”.
Funny, we call natures beings, forces but truly “force” has nothing to do with it. The power comes from not holding anything back…from natural movement…from complete release with NO resistance! Then something wonderful happens…you find yourself feeling pleasure from this effortless motion--and STUFF HAPPENS. I mean everything comes together, as well==or perhaps better--than if you’d expended your energy in a frenzied attempt to succeed. The party was a success in all the ways that mattered…the birthday girl was surprised and very happy. No matter what else I could have--should have--would have done, it would not have made a difference to her happiness.
Had I not listened to the song of the stones, I might have missed a beautiful gift. Had I not trusted the subtle but powerful pull that drew me in to find them, I would not have seen this enchanting harmony of crystalline spirits--the quartet of Wind, Water, Fire and Earth. My mind, always in struggle for control urged me to focus on the details of the party, bribing my ego with the promise of great success and threatening with that dreaded failure. All the while, the strings of my heart were gently strummed by the soft hum of a silent song. The subtle tones of the heart song held no threats nor did they offer any promises…they were simply open and loving. I’m grateful that I chose to follow my heart. I don’t think I’ve ever regretted following any path illuminated by the light of the heart.
Originally published May 24, 2011