Friday, January 16, 2015

Living from...

Genuine Soul

When we leave the crowded streets and watch any piece of nature doing what it does—tree, moose, snake, or lightening—it becomes clear that the very energy of life is the spirit released by things being what they are.”
Mark Nepo (The Book of Awakening)

When I look out the window of my sewing room this morning, all I see is the spotted gray branches of winter trees against a white sky. Fog hangs thick in the air and the ground wears a generous blanket of frost. Just to the left, squirrels chase around the trunk of an oak tree like kids on the 4th of July. Squirrels being squirrels, trees being trees, winter being winter.

When you think about it, humans are the only creatures on this planet who swim against the tide of their own true nature. Perhaps that's a good thing—we all might be selfish tyrants if we didn't occasionally say yes when we mean no. The problem comes when we get so accustomed to saying yes when we mean no, that we forget what's true for us. You'll never see an eagle trying to be a swan, or a ferret acting like a lion. But people often want to please others so much, want to feel a sense of belonging, that they will do what they know is wrong.

In our search for inclusion in the pack, we sometimes bury our feelings of empathy for all beings. We abandon our inner goodness out of fear of rejection. I believe at the soul level, we are compassionate beings. We are only truly content when we are living from that place of compassion. Finding our true heart may take a little digging—in fact, may take a lot of digging—but it's worth the effort.

This is a good day to practice being true to yourself. Operate from an open heart, but also from an honest heart. Finding genuine goodness inside, there for its own sake, and not because it pleases or impresses someone else, releases spiritual energy. And that energy is what the whole world needs.

                                                         In the Spirit,
                                                            Jane



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