Just Wondering

Guest Blog Post by Wildly Free Elder Spotlight, DIANA TURNER-FORTE

Scientists tell us that the eye of a storm is the calmest place, that includes tornadoes and hurricanes. Given the utter destruction and chaos caused by severe weather it’s hard to imagine that there is motionlessness, as well. Could that be the same for human beings?

Despite what the outer environment might look like, within each of us there is calm place, “that passes all understanding,” that we can access. And from that place, our centers—perhaps of the Cosmos—we can function with grace and love. Rumi said:

“Whatever circles comes from the center.”

Rumi

That makes living more of a spiral rather than a hierarchy. Circling encompasses a vastness and spaciousness beyond comprehension. A circle includes everyone and everything, where everybody is seen. Our imagination must step way outside the box to envision such greatness and fulfill such magnanimity.

Widening Circles
by Rainer Maria Rilke
translated by Joanna Macy

I live my life in widening circles
that reach out across the world.
I may not complete this last one
but I give myself to it.

I circle around God, 
around the primordial tower.
I've been circling for thousands of 
years
and I still don't know: am I a
falcon,
a storm, or a great song?

As a process of personal and spiritual growth, individuation engages the spirit or should I say, the soul moves the personality to lean into the collective consciousness without losing oneself. It’s a holy endeavor requiring silence, contemplation, and study; a never-ending cycle of deaths and rebirths that often challenge the individual to dig deeper into herself with the goal to acquire more wisdom, faith, and hope. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross said:

“People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.”

Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

It’s that place of love, reverence, and revelation that Dr. David R. Hawkins established on The Map of Consciousness that gets us vibrating at 500. Imagine vibrating at that level day in and day out. Imagine that level of calm and inner authority reverberating through your body, not easily challenged by the vicissitudes of environmental chaos, emotional upheavals, and overreactions to outer stimuli and divisiveness.

During the past few weeks, I’ve challenged myself to ask questions and engage in a process of Visio Divina through a study of Mary Magdalene. I wouldn’t be mentioning this except for the simplicity of the activity and at the same time the depth of inquiry; the ensouling that occurred as the result of not being in my head. It’s an ancient embodiment practice where feelings and inspiration rise to the surface.

If you are unfamiliar with Visio Divina, “divine seeing” opens our hearts to allow God to speak. What also happens is the ripple effect as life shows itself differently, because, well you are transformed after the experience and can choose to explore further or just be, without judgment. For my experience I used the paintings of artist, Sue Ellen Parkinson,

“I experience the creative process as a form of prayer. It is my sanest response to the world. It keeps me whole and connects me to mystery.“

Sue Ellen Parkinson

http://www.sueellenparkinson.com

The process of Visio Divina is relatively easy. Select an image that resonates with you and simply study it: the colors that stand out, the shapes, any other items in the painting that attracts your attention, note words that pop up in your imagination. You engage the process further by asking questions: “What am I to do with this information? How can I fully live with what I am hearing?” Then with pen and paper, free write without evaluating. Keep your pen moving for up to 10 minutes.

Stay in your body, relax, and enjoy the process.

“As the deer longs for the waterbrook, so yearns my soul for you, O God.”

Psalm 42

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Gaye Abbott, Natural Passages Consulting, 3/24/22. Please feel free to share this post and link to Diana Turner-Forte

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