Are you Listening yet?

March 24, 2017 1 Comment

It's nearly the end of march and I'm finally feeling better after an ugly bout of flu, followed by deafness in one ear for about 10 days. It was strange to experience this strange side effect, especially as my flu didn't really involve much congestion or coughing and as always in situations like this, I'm am called to dig deeper into my symptoms in an attempt to figure out what my body is trying to tell me.

Illness, disease, is not really a rational thing and it's hard, actually impossible I think to simplify it into a simple cause and effect experience. I caught this bug therefore I’m sick is the first layer...but then I am called to consider the why’s of how the rest of my family was left unscathed? Or why the same bug perhaps results in different symptoms for different people? We sometimes need medical help (allopathic or herbal or whatever) to help us through, but we also need to participate in the healing process and recognize our capacity to do so. I consider all my life situations and stories as an opportunity for healing and personal growth.

So, my left ear was completely blocked. My instinct and my intuition were telling me I was “not listening”.

I asked myself the question: What did I not want to hear? Almost immediately, I remembered that multiple times over the last few months I have been asked to talk about my work, to teach a class or otherwise share some of my private world. My work. So far, I had pretty much ignored these requests. It is scary and not an easy thing for me to contemplate, but I do know from previous experience that often the things that challenge us the most are exactly where we need to direct our energy...

This is where Echinacea comes in, the Soulflower pick for March, whose healing energy supports transitions of your sense of self.

As you expand your understanding of who you are, as you evolve and grow, it is often necessary to leave behind parts of your self, defined by your ego, that keep you small or unable to embrace growth and new potential.

I AM an artist. I AM a mother. I AM open to growth and change. Maybe... I AM also a teacher, a guide and a healer — not only of myself but for the Earth and perhaps others as well? Maybe I find this scary and I don't want to face it or embrace it. Maybe I feel I AM not ready for this evolution? Maybe I AM not listening...

We are such multifaceted complex creatures and change, evolution, is a dynamic process that is not simple or easy. It's hard not to cling to the familiar, the safe, the understood, the old stories and familiar aspects of our self. Remember the expression, “you can't teach an old dog new tricks?”  

But if that is the case how can we ever grow and evolve as human beings? How can we awaken to greater and greater levels of consciousness and understanding about ourselves if we don't constantly rewrite the story? How can we recognize and reawaken the connection not only to ourselves, but to all beings, if we are stuck in a level of consciousness where we are defined simply by our careers or personality traits and preoccupied with constant busyness and striving for some capitalist notion of “success”. No wonder our immune systems are shot!

I AM capable of amazing feats of courage and strength.

Who are we indeed? What do our bodies have to do to get our attention? Am I listening yet?

Message received! My hearing has returned. But of course, it’s not really that simple. There’s no rational or simple understanding of it all.  There’s no finish line, no completion even. Just a perpetual evolution of consciousness. And just when I feel “clear” on some aspect of myself, another new “issue” arises. A continual process of examining, breaking up and redefining “Who We Are”.


Echinacea as a herbal medicine stimulates and supports the immune system. As a flower essence it energetically stimulates and supports your awakening to greater and greater levels of consciousness. Both aspects support the connections and relationship of our physical selves, our emotional selves, our spiritual selves and the environment/world in which we live, work and create our individual stories. Both aspects support the processes of releasing, cleaning up, and letting go of the parts of our stories that are no longer our Truth.

And so on to the next chapter! As we move into Spring in the Northern Hemisphere, I AM reminded of the natural processes of composting the “old” and greeting the “new” as the earth awakens for another season of renewal and growth.

I AM ready to move forward, I AM ready to open up to new opportunities and new areas of self-expression and change. I AM ready to embrace all that I AM in this moment. I AM ready to be seen. The enormous power of this simple statement is not to be overlooked.

I AM….

What are you creating?

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