WILDLY FREE ELDER
The Artistry of Aging
I Sometimes Forget….
Botanical Gardens, University of N. Carolina, Asheville (Photo by Gaye Abbott)
I sometimes forget
that I am created for Joy.
My mind is too busy.
My heart is too heavy
for me to remember
that I have been
called to dance
the sacred dance of Life.
I was created to smile
To Love
To be lifted up
And to lift others up.
O’ Sacred One
Untangle my feet
from all that ensnares.
Free my soul
That we might
Dance
and that our dancing might be contagious.
~Hafiz
Sometimes I forget…..to be authentic.
As I wandered the botanical gardens in Asheville a few days ago amidst the indigenous native trees and plant life alive with vibrancy and wild lushness, I went into contemplation about authenticity.
Most of us have seen invasive species brought here from other landscapes threatening the native plant life and other indigenous species, choking off the very nutrients that nourish and sustain. They take too much and give back too little.
This can also happen with humans as they take on inauthentic personas and strive to be something they are not, fueled by an endless striving to fit in or “belong”, or in frenzied seeking for more and more “money”.
Too much energy and focus on something that is not innate, grounded nor aligned with the heart and soul will eventually deaden the being we came in to be.
As we reach the elder stages of our embodied lives it seems more challenging to cover up who we are in our artistry and expression. At least that is my experience.
I liken this stage to embodying the fullness of our knowing, intuition and artistry. Embodied life is meant to lead us into this exploration of creative soul. Artistry that is wildly in alignment with our own unique version of the Sacred Dance of embodied life.
Trust that you know, and will know, how that feels. Taking action from this spaciousness of being that is never in a box, wrapped up in dogma, based on others expectations, or dictated to by the mainstream cultural narrative.
This is where you will find your aliveness and your joy….releasing others into their own soul freeing dance!
You are in alignment when you:
*Feel at peace with your choices and actions
*Are excited about and co-create possibilities to expand and grow
*Enhance emerging authentic and creative artistry by saying yes to it even when it feels scary
*Perceive the inevitable challenges of life as opportunities
*Are able to set boundaries and say no to something that is not in alignment
*Can identify and shed old patterns of thinking and being (i.e. identities)
*Trust the unfolding of life…..
This by no means is complete as each unique human will have a different experience of what it feels to be in alignment. Please feel free to share yours!
Freely share this post giving credit to Wildly Free Elder global community and Gaye Abbott, 5/2021