What Am I For?

 

A bird, a tree, a rock; they know what they are for, what freedom is

Simplicity of it pierces through me breaking my heart for I can’t reach that state of knowing

Human…

I am misplaced, shapeshifted here and there, but nowhere I know what I am for

I do it all and do it well, as there’s nothing else to be done, yet there is always a bodily grumble, a jerk and a sting in the tongue, as joy is lost and never there

What am I for? I do not know

In constant searching I tire desiring for extinction, yet if not searching then what?

Grabbing onto something, anything, somewhere, but nothing stays, as it should or should it not be that way?

Is being misplaced a ‘what for’ in itself?

The non-human calls me, as it knows what is what, it had always known and for that I love it so

Thrown into this life one more time I swam and walked straight off with confidence, but devoid of knowing what am I for?

Was I for something, but no more? Seem to have had and lost too early, known too soon, aged ahead of time. Is that it? Neither a witch nor a monk, but both

I seem to know a lot of parts

A bit of everything, but no one thing and I want to be one thing

Past love returns through dreams to remind me of the loss and the feeling that burns with such purity and light

It hurts, but the pain is sweet, the pain is deadly, yet alive. Is love what I was for, but no longer?

I drop it all now and again, empty out the way for something to take shape, to become once more

It comes, it stays, and it fuels, but not for long before the craving rises up again for

What am I for?

Now and again I grab hold of the golden thread and cherish it for a time

Before it slips out of my hand once again to become something or anything, but not mine

Am I a shapeshifting entity adapting to what is? Is that enough? Is that worthy of staying, being?

Perhaps it’s always been with nothing solid or constant needed

Perhaps the flow is where it’s at, for I speak of the flow often

Why does the yearning not stop and bitterness grows at times?

Why the peace alludes me and tears always stand on ready

Perhaps, it is a part of a crying body, dark texture of a human that also wants to be

And I am a carrier of its skin and depth

Perhaps, that is just so and what if that is not me, or one or constant

Perhaps, I am the ever-changing sketch of all things life, all voices of the unknown

In times of tiredness I crave the knowledge of the way of trees, rocks and birds

It comes over and over, but a shapeshifter needs rest, space, and formlessness

Hence emptiness is a necessary part of life too

What am I for? A lifetime spent asking questions is a life worth having

Perhaps…

@copyrightNC2020

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Can Nature…?

Can nature heal

Can earth bring us back to our knees and pierce its ancient dagger through the heart

Can nature teach you who you are

Can a bird song inspire, delight and speak of both sorrow and joy

Can river wash away the debris of the worldly matter

Can mountain hold you in such a way you never wobble again

Can spring flowers inject a hope into our being

Can roaming animal body remind us of the raw wilderness within

Can the falling snow cover us in sheer enchantment

Can rain drops on the skin put us in touch with our bodies

Can a flight of an eagle inspire strength and power waiting to take flight inside of us

Can God bow before its majesty and weep tears of love

What is it that nature does and doesn’t that makes our lives worth living and speaks of meaning old as centuries

Of nature we are born and to its body we return

As outside so is within

What can be more life, meaning, strength and delight all at the same time

Nature is magic and matter, spirit and body

Bones and blood, skin and intelligence

All embracing…

One place we become whole, we come home, we know what we are

A tool for raising self-awareness

In 2018 I have gone on a journey of tuning into myself, the world around me with nature continuing to be my sacred, supportive and grounding space on a month by month basis and it has been an incredible way of getting to know myself. I have not just been surprised but amazed at various things that I didn’t even know existed.

I took an approach of keeping a journal taking one month at a time, January, February, March, etc. Focusing my awareness of what happens within me at any given moment, things that arise when engaging with people and partaking in events or when being silent or walking in nature. Feelings that come up for me spontaneously and consciously, when in here and now, when asleep, dream observations, etc.

The main aim of the exercise was sharpening my awareness of myself in terms of qualities, strengths, weaker points, triggers, ways of relating, preferences in being, how well-balanced or unbalanced something was within and tuning into needs that were either always met or never met. These are just some examples of this practice.

Here’s a list of qualities I have discovered and zoomed in for each month as I became aware of those energies in me. Just to give you an example and yes, a lot of it surprised me and offered and opportunity for change.

Once we become aware of something we then are offered a choice automatically. We can choose what we do with that newly found information. That’s a beauty of making unconscious conscious. You can go as deep as you wish into what you discover, or observe it simply as it is or both.

January:

I have truly experienced myself as ‘nice’. This might sound strange, but I saw just how divorced I have been from myself in that sense. This time I felt it, really felt it and knew that to be true. I enjoyed that one. Beautiful sensation.

February:

I spent most of the month in a state of light and loving kindness. It was all about love, the pure kind, the transcendent kind. Another beautiful state. I was made aware that I am

able to go to that place a lot easier than I have given myself credit for in the past.

March:

I was able to transform my relationship with the physical pain and learnt to listen to it.

And so it goes… each month there will be a theme or a feeling that would centre around me and ask tor attention and I would journal around what came up. I have had an incredible year and partly that was due to my conscious choosing of being aware at all times and in tune with what arose without trying to fight it or change it. I observed myself and wrote about it.

At the end of the calendar year I was full of lessons and knowing more than I did last year. My experiment in active personal evolving has been very rewarding and highly interesting. I would recommend this self-awareness tool to everyone looking to dive deeper into finding out more about themselves including a much subtler layers of psyche, not just things that might be familiar or obvious. Super fun. Writing as a tool is generally transformative and healing. If you enjoy writing this one won’t disappoint.

This is something I think I will always continue doing in one form or another. It is now January and I find myself in a very different place to where I was this time last year and it grabs my attention and spikes curiosity. I am excited to enter into any new space that opens up in front of me. Remaining in wonder is an essential part of life to me and for as long as awareness, enchantment and tapping into potential is there, life is full of all things interesting.

Happy 2019, everyone!

Love everlasting

The first time I knew you my breath was out to abandonment

My knees touched the greenness of your body and in awe I stood amidst a stone circle feeling protected and contained

I lowered myself into your cooling stream imagining I wash myself anew

I knew then I never wanted to be anywhere else

I knew then my love will last a life time

Do you believe in such beauty that delicately transforms your being into something so light and peaceful that is unimaginable in the world like this

I now do believe and the breath leaves me every time I lay my eyes on a silvery Loch in early evening

How can something be in such calmness among such horrors and unthinkable acts

How can something be so soothing to the soul you know there’s no other home for you, for me, for anyone who dares to love

Words are easily overtaken by feelings and it is experience so profound that saying nothing carries the most weight

I’ve been here again and again and without fail my heart remains faithful to the utter bliss you give me so generously, so unconditionally

Worship… not the word, inspiration may be, most of all it is love like the one been and lost, like the one before I was a grown up, when enchantment, wonder and heart laid bare

Transpersonal, everlasting

Like it sprinkled gold on me permanently that can’t be rub off

It shines on the inside like a fire that’s being kept alive eternally

Don’t you find peace in the love once known? Can you name a more welcomed imprint? It lives on

I know it again, here, in this land

It lives on in its glorious clothing of each season with such beauty that spirit rejoices in simply being

In need of balance and contrast

This last cycle of 2018 is showing up as a real blessing in its clarity and form. I feel grateful for the opportunity to see things unfolding in and around myself and being called to act.

As winter approaches every year my Fire energy rises. That’s to balance quite a dormant energy of Water and stagnated Earth, a very slow moving energy, which comes during summer. This Fire is energetic, proactive, creative and quite outward focused, which makes networking, connecting and socialising easier. It is the time when motivation is strong and focus is sharp. This year is no different yet this time I really get the purpose of it like it is truly meant to be. There’s a lot more natural flow, I suppose. Things make sense and the year feels complete. I carry a lot of gratitude and a strong sense of pride and achievement.

With the Fire energy coming forward there is also awareness of other elements in the mix, e.g. the need to stay grounded and manifesting, seeking financial security (Earth); keeping my thoughts in order and really using them to my advantage (Air) with Water representing my awareness of feelings and checking in with them at all times.

Lately there has been so much space that I was beginning not to see its benefit after a year of enjoyment of that space. I do feel it has been coming into focus in the last few months and now here it is. It started with a need for that space this time last year, for rest and reflection, for freedom and creativity. What I am realising now, which is evolutionary within my growth, I feel, that I can still have it all and not have so much space! It is that ‘I can do it all’. Renewed energy within me and knowing my capacity and resources have come forward.
It has gone from spacious to empty to boring. Furthermore, I need to be able to feel the contrast from a space filled to a space empty to appreciate both fully. It is in that ebb and flow that I find balance.

Balance and contrast are constant forces within us and nature all around. If we feel into the needs of ourselves we strive for that balance of busy and empty, dark and light, short and long, fun and hard-work. Nature presents contrasts in its seasons and seeking balance through maintaining life cycles and biodiversity of species on the planet. It is in that contrast that beauty often lies and through appreciating the contrast we come to a place of knowing that everything changes and nothing stays the same. We are always moving towards something new and away from something that’s done. For me it became clear that staying in one place, no matter how much I might have thought I wanted it and seemingly achieving that ‘dream’ situation, is static and in the absence of movement things stop slowly. This is not to say that I haven’t enjoyed the space vibe immensely. I cherished every moment with a grateful heart.

Stopping and slowing are not the vibrations of the winter season for me, one thing that remains unchanged. Winter is the most dynamic time in my body and psyche. Dreams change, even a way of being ‘still’ changes, needs and wants change and for as long as an overall picture still makes sense and produces feelings of contentment and joy we find a way of moving with it all that best suits us.