Stop, Sit, and Listen

My, oh, my -- what a difference a few days can make! After being unsure about where exactly I was going to do next, a bunch of opportunities have presented themselves. Now I'm looking a very looong and exciting list of adventures that I'm going to embark on. Yes, change is in the air. All of these amazing opportunities have sprouted up in the past week or so, and my brain hasn't been processing them all. Then I sat down to write an email to a friend and OM -- my brain was suddenly faced with a list. It's a lot to wrap my head around. And I don't think I'm going to even try. I'm just going to take it as it comes.

As I think about this past month, a few wonderful quotes come to mind. The first was in the form of a daily horoscope on my Yahoo home page a few weeks back:

Terminations are inevitable in your life -- things must end before they can begin.

Very true, very wise, and often that little piece of advice is a bit tough for me to take. Those words showed up on a day that I REALLY needed it. And as I look towards all of these new adventures that have recently unfolded in my life, I feel in my bones how accurate those words really are.

The second quote showed up in my life just before a new path emerged.

"One has to abandon altogether the search for security,
and reach out to the risk of living with both arms. One
has to court doubt and darkness as the cost of knowing."

-- Morris L. West

Again, words that are very true and very wise. I went through the typical stages -- I fretted about things ending. I fretted about now knowing what was next. I finally accepted that I didn't know what was coming next. I started to enjoy not knowing. And now, here I am -- a whole new path laid out before me. For now, it seems pretty clear to me what the next step will be.

The next step doesn't need to be taken just yet though. I am about to embark on another adventure tomorrow -- an adventure that comes at just the right time. I'm heading off to a 10-day Vipassana retreat, and I won't return until the 8th of October. There will be no cell phone, no iPod, no email, no Internet, no journaling, no reading -- no doing at all. Just being. Just me and my cushion. Just me and my breath. I have a feeling it's going to be yet another wild ride.

Blogging, of course, is doing. Therefore, I won't be blogging until next month. I'll be back in a few weeks ready to tell you about all of my innerventures.

I'll be bringing my lovely jade mala along with me -- a creation that I can proudly say that I made myself, thanks to Satya (co-founder of Satya Jewelry) and her lovely staff members. My mala making workshop at Golden Bridge this past Sunday was a complete and total joy -- and fabulous way to celebrate the Global Mala event. There's something about arts and crafts that just makes me happy. And making those 108 knots was quite insightful. It was interesting to see my little idiosyncracies (like wanting things to be perfect, like wanting something other than what I have, etc.) in full bloom. It was also fun to drop those silly little egoisms and enjoy the sacred work of creating a mala.

I'll reconnect in October.

Namaste!

Comments

[Berylwhiting]

This post really resonated with me. Like you, I have come to understand and even better, experience that when I let go and allow a bit of non-parachute free fall, then what I wanted magically appears. Reading Karen Bishop the Ascension Primer has taught that being creative, in your case, making 108 knots (!) helps us to be in the moment.

[Christine]

I look forward to hearing about your retreat. I'm sure you will undergo a transformation.

[Rebecca]

Sounds very exciting! I'd love to do a Vipassana retreat and break the pattern of "doing". Take care Diane.

[top weight loss site]

Sometimes we need to just sit down and relax and yoga is one of the best ways to do that. I always thought yoga was just for girls but not anymore as it has helped me so much.

[Linda]

diane, didn't they tell you NOT to bring any malas? that's what they told when I did my retreat....

good luck! we can compare notes....