Last Icicles of The Season??? I wonder ...
Uncovering a learning point within ourselves is the fuel that fans the flame for moment-by-moment discoveries. View your whole day as a fantastic learning opportunity. Gregge Tiffen (Fanned Fire and Forced Love Never Did Well – February, 2008)
Yikes! I needed that reminder this week as I navigated several breakdowns here at the Dragonfly House. As the first round wound down, I reminded myself that this a planet where our greatest learning opportunities may be simply learning about matter – the physical world and how to navigate physical circumstances such as our health, nutrition, movement, as well as building and maintaining such things as our homes, our cars, our ‘stuff’.
That’s not to minimize our spiritual growth or expanding our mental capacity, but what if, on this planet, a key pathway to that growth is through dealing with physical matter, i.e. learning to navigate the physical?
I don’t know about you, but I sometimes find myself feeling burdened and annoyed by the demands of the physical world. I race through attending to the needs (sometimes demands) of my body, my home, my ‘stuff’ so that I can move on to the important business of life like my ‘spiritual’ growth or even thinking about how to creatively grow my business.
That’s where I planned my attention to be this week. Life had other plans requiring that I put attention on my home and, a few days later, on office equipment. To ignore the demands would be ignorant, so as the first day of events ended I took myself to a place of reflection and curiosity. The botched delivery of a washer and dryer was not a world crisis, though it added inconvenience and cost to the process. And, if it wasn’t corrected soon, it would impact my ability to host guests in the B&B; and, thus my income, a potential stressor.
In reflecting on my observations of the day, in particular my reactions, I gave myself mixed reviews. But, more importantly, I realized in a new way what a gift matter, the physical, offers up in terms of learning. So rather than a burden or a distraction from ‘important’ things, I’ve embraced the events as opportunities to learn. I see that being inventive and proactive on my behalf in the domain of the physical contributes to my spiritual and mental capabilities as well.
I’m discovering riches in acknowledging how much I know about responding when things break down. There’s a wealth of opportunity in identifying gaps in my knowledge and skills to develop. I’m experimenting with how to hold my ground with grace in the face of a corporation whose recorded messages tell me how important my customer feedback is while I wait for a ‘customer service’ representative who is not empowered to serve, but only to give rote responses that don’t address the concern I’m presenting. It’s a curious dance to explore maintaining a centered presence while making demands.
So matter matters. Yes, in its physical form for the safety and comfort it provides. And, navigating the matter of physical matter, rather than being a burden or distraction to rush through is a point of learning which makes it easier to embrace each day as a fantastic learning opportunity. Onward! And, stay tuned for updates...
Cottonwood Creek this week ... always my place of sweet peace.