WILDLY FREE ELDER
The Artistry of Aging
Day 14: Elder Muse -The Wild Divinity of “Home”
French Broad River at Stackhouse Bend, N. Carolina
Originally Posted on Breathing Spaces, April 25, 2021 by Gaye Abbott, Edited 12/2022
“I would love to live like a river flows, carried by the surprise of its own unfolding.”
~ John O’Donohue
Have you ever found yourself wondering what “home” means to you personally? The mystics say it resides inside and I agree with this. Yet, there is much more to this journey to reflect upon, let go into…. and be present to.
Perhaps this is a quest we are on our entire lives.
I love the term “wild divinity” in the excerpt below – “resting in the house of our own heart”. As we age this somehow becomes easier to do as the striving and outward focused actions fall away and the inner “home guidance system” takes precedence.
“Each one of us is alone in the world. It takes great courage to meet the full force of your aloneness. Most of the activity in society is subconsciously designed to quell the voice crying in the wilderness within you.
The mystic Thomas Kempis said that when you go out into the world, you return having lost some of yourself. Until you learn to inhabit your aloneness, the lonely distraction and noise of society will seduce you into false belonging, with which you will only become empty and weary.
When you face your aloneness, something begins to happen. Gradually, the sense of bleakness changes into a sense of true belonging. This is a slow and open-ended transition but it is utterly vital in order to come into rhythm with your own individuality.
In a sense this is the endless task of finding your true home within your life. It is not narcissistic, for as soon as you rest in the house of your own heart, doors and windows begin to open outwards to the world. No longer on the run from your aloneness, your connections with others become real and creative. You no longer need to covertly scrape affirmation from others or from projects outside yourself.
This is slow work; it takes years to bring your mind home.“
John O’Donohue, Irish poet and philosopher
Excerpt from ETERNAL ECHOES
http://johnodonohue.com
“Your vision is your home and your home should have many mansions to shelter your wild divinity.”
~John O’Donohue
Crossing the threshold into this wild divinity of our own heart brings a “belonging” that never goes away. This is foundation – the bricks, mortar and rooted earth – that brings with it the freedom to surrender into the next relationship, artistry, move, endeavor, location….life moment.
Having completed a 7th relocation almost two years ago now to the temperate rain forest area of Western N. Carolina I have been in the process of re-calibrating. Going deeper into unknown territory, using challenges as stepping stones for this next chapter of life.
On the outside it may look like I have been searching for a home and never quite getting there. This last time leaping from wildfires, air pollution, rolling blackouts and high daily living expense in California to a more elemental earth and water home sanctuary in Western N. Carolina surrounded by the ancient Blue Ridge Mountains, aligns with the “home” inside of me. Yet the loss of being close in distance to sons, grandchildren and friends is part of the letting go journey as well.
I find the wild beauty and grounding of the natural world and the ancient Blue Ridge Mountains serving as guidance whispered into my heart and soul as a reminder of building inner resilience, acceptance and trust.
When “home” resides in the wild divinity of the heart each place you find yourself – whether staying in a community where you were born and have established connections or exploring other cultures and landscapes – will serve as an awakening in and to life……
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Gaye Abbott, Natural Passages Consulting, 12/14/22. Please feel free to share this post and link to WildlyFreeElder
Love this one about finding our true home. I can relate to your experience of moving here too.