The prevailing thought around “finding your path” and the mystical spiritual journey itself, is that you are not on your path until you finally are. Like one day you finally figure out what you are here to do, why and how, and everything is copacetic. Right?
This has not been my experience!
My experience has been more spiraling, cyclical, in that the path is not clear…ever…I cannot see or predict what is around each bend no matter how hard I try, and each moment I am in the process of having to FEEL into the next best step…and the next…
When my heart is in the lead, the path generally unfolds with ease and grace (with a side of grit). I am aligned with life, flowing. And then when my ego takes over, or rather my rational mind, (same same), I oftentimes end up taking frequent “minor” detours. I am still moving in an ever expanding and unfolding journey of self discovery and personal growth but with many, MANY, course corrections.
Old habits of reverting to the rational mind as guide are hard to break, the cellular memory is deep and even generational, and unfortunately rife with old beliefs, habits and cultural programming that are easy to overlook… especially when it is so uncomfortable to do so. Hello judgment!
So that’s when Life steps in and throws me a curveball (or two or three), and generally attempts to bring the pushing and striving and controlling actions (that I hardly notice since I am so used to the struggle), into my conscious awareness.
“Why am I having such a hard time? What am I doing wrong?” I start to ask myself. And that’s when the negotiations with Life begin, along with the call for guidance of some form.
“Please… please… tell me… what should I do?”
Iris (INSPIRATION) is my plant spirit guide this moon cycle.
Right on cue as I find myself pushing and struggling, tying to FORGE along my path, rather than FLOW as my heart longs to do...there she is.
Iris right away reminds me that after a period of intense growth there is always a period of integration and rest. “What can you let go of?” she asks.
This is NOT what I want to hear.
Iris is garden royalty. She stands tall and serene, wearing her beautiful purple crown and gently fluttering at passersby. Her deeply restorative energy helps revitalize your connection to divine guidance, opening your third eye, helping you to discover your true passions and allowing inspiration and creativity to flow.
It’s just that sometimes the inspiration we receive is not exactly what we have in mind.
But, BUT, it is ALWAYS what we have in our heart.
That’s the difference.
My heart desires peace, calm, and a great deal of time spent in Nature, in my garden. That is the source of my connection, the fuel that inspires the beauty I wish to create and express in the world.
If I am tied to my desk, packaging orders and constantly outputting “inspirational” content via my phone or computer without honoring what my heart desires, eventually that creative well will run dry, no matter how hard I push.
When I am pushing and “working hard”, I know I am living from my head and not my heart.
My path, our paths, are meant to be a labor of love. And Iris (and all the flowers) are always reminding me that when I am on my path, work doesn’t feel like “work”, it feels like an expression of love.
I only have to TRUST my heart and what it is sharing with me.
That is the journey! 🌀
I can see clearly that after many years of expansion, growth and the outer work of releasing my deck (twice!), founding a virtual CommUNITY Garden and building a self-sustaining small art business, the next curve of my journey is to tend and nurture myself for a while—to hit my personal reset button.
I am using this waning moon to identify what I can let go of, and add to the compost heap of my life, so that I have the room to rest and replenish myself for the next season of personal growth which will come, as it always does, in its own sweet time.
Life happens, my job is to flow with it, not try to control it.
When we take the time to really nourish ourselves, to cultivate the beauty within, I know we can better create and express it in the world around us. And this is certainly what the world needs right now!
Sometimes the action required is non-action—self-love and self-care of the deepest order.
So the question for us all is not necessarily what can we do, but more how can we be?
If I crave or deeply desire to live in a world that is peaceful, loving and respectful of all life, I know that I have to include myself in that mix. And this journey, this experience of life is a practice after all—an ongoing re-membering of the truth that we are all our own experts, our own healers and every living soul is deeply connected.
It’s time to ALLOW. To practice RECEIVING.
To listen deeply to what my heart is telling me and spend some restorative time in my garden where this whole journey of listening and remembering began.
Iris reminds me that I am worthy of rest and rejuvenation.
So are you.
It’s hard to be inspired and connected and aligned in this world if we’re too busy to even listen.
Tune in… listen to your heart... listen for Iris. The plants are always whispering to us.
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Over the years, the Soulflowers have lovingly helped me to understand change to be the natural order of things. They have helped me to trust completely in the inherent intelligence of Nature and the necessity of all the seasons to support life, sustainably.
We are cyclical beings. Life (life force energy) is never lost—it is only constantly changed, transformed.
“All suffering comes from resistance to the truth of who you are. All suffering comes from resistance to What Is.” Milk Thistle adds.
Let that truth bomb sink in.
Chezanna
May 05, 2024
Iris, royalty, I like this. She regally stands and waves and she is prominent in my life at present. Rest and rejuvenation, yes. Heart felt. Essential at this time for me. More important than following my thoughts Into action, action, and more action. Thank you
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My Soulflower replied:
Iris is such a blessing. I’m glad she found you. 🌸