Allow the Flow

 

Ordinary Miracles

“We’re all given something to do. And when we don’t follow what we’re supposed to do, we always know when we’re off track.”

Joy Harjo

          Joy Harjo is beginning a third year as our poet laureate. I love her poetry because it is open and unconstrained. But I also relate to how she thinks and how she views her work. She writes, “When I began to listen to poetry, it’s when I began to listen to the stones, and began to listen to what the clouds had to say, and I began to listen to others. And I think, most importantly for all of us, then you learn to listen to the soul, the soul of yourself in here, which is also the soul of everyone else.” I like the fact that she does not take credit for the gifts and skills she has in poetry—that it is only by listening and allowing the words to flow through her that she creates.

          Any time the miraculous happens, it is because we get ourselves—our egos—out of the way. This is true in the creative arena, and in the healing arts. If we can just allow, and follow, and let go, rather than lead, and demand, and commandeer whatever it is we are trying to do, beautiful things come through. As Harjo tells us, my soul and your soul are the same, and they are part of the world soul. If we can get our personalities out of the way, that enormous soul that created the universe can work through us to the benefit of all.

          If we are honest, we know that individually even the most brilliant of us is limited in what we can know and do. Even Einstein understood that. There is simply too much we do not know—life itself is a mystery. As David Whyte said, “Honesty allows us to live with not knowing. We do not know the full story; we do not know where we are in the story…” In fact, we don’t even know what the story is. But we can know this—we are part of it. One strand in this web of life is just as important as another. We do not need to know everything—we simply have to do what is ours to do. When we’re off track, we know it. When we’re on track, we know it. And we know it because our soul is always talking to us—guiding us in the right direction. Our job is to listen.

          Albert Einstein said, “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is.” I prefer the second. How about you?

                                                  In the Spirit,

                                                  Jane