Discernment in Our Chaotic World

Early Morning Haze in the Sangres

Truth and spiritual awareness need no trumpets or drums. Gregge Tiffen (Do The Angels Take a Vacation? – August, 2007)

What is true for each of us is that which inspires and deepens our awareness of our true power.

As I have a few times recently, this week has me calling forward a previously written post – updated what I’m observing currently.  The message seems especially appropriate given the political climate and, in my view, dearth of moral leadership in that arena.

Over the past several weeks as I’ve watched current events unfold and heard far too much fear-based rhetoric, I realized (not for the first time of course) just how disempowering the world’s messages are. The so called ‘news’ with its negativity, discord, confusion, conflicting information and disparate opinions that scream their version of what is true often fails to inform much less inspire or empower.

Beyond the news, everything in the world seems to calls for our attention jobs, family, friends, politicians, people in business who have something to sell. Take a look at your email in-box, your social media account, text messages, voice mail, and advertisements in places too numerous to mention. 

Are you inspired or empowered by what you see?  Or does the vista contribute to a sense of angst, confusion, chaos about conditions ‘out there’ beyond your control?

So, how the heck do you begin to know what’s ‘true’?  Within that question is perhaps one of the great opportunities of this time: learning the fine art of discernment – not what’s true ‘out there’, but what is true to you and for you. What are your criteria for discerning what to allow to enter your space (yes, you do have control over that!)?

If you know your criteria, are you rigorous in honoring them? (I’ll be taking some action in this regard this month!).

If you aren’t sure or your criteria could use buffing up (I’ll be doing some of that too!) give some attention to identifying the knowledge/tools/skills you have to guide you.

A great starting point is remembering the truth of what Gregge suggests in the quote above: truth is not boisterous or external, rather it is quiet and inside. The goal is to find your truth. What is true for each of us is that which inspires and deepens our awareness of our true power. What inspires you? What deepens your awareness of how powerful you truly are?

Here are some other ways to develop and sharpen your discernment:

• Engage curiosity, letting go of the need to know, understand or be right

• Be open to other possibilities – open mind, open heart

• Develop your instinct/conviction and listen to it while being open to making adjustments

• Befriend paradox – in a world of infinite possibilities two ideas that appear contradictory may each be true even when they seem to be polar opposites

• Be gentle (with yourself and others)

• Avoid win/loose conflict, competition, and confrontation

• Look to nature, her beauty, her rhythm

  Enjoy the journey to discovering and expanding all that which is truly you AND true for you! 

The Labyrinth - One of My Places for Finding What Is True for Me … Luke agrees!

Will (Continuing the Exploration)

Early Morning Sun on the Great Sand Dunes

There can be no exercise of will when there is fear. Gregge Tiffen (The Language of a Mystic: Awareness – July, 2009)

 When fear is used to control us, love is how we rebel. Rivera Sun (The Dandelion Insurrection : Love and Revolution)

 Last week’s musing about exercising will (http://cindyreinhardt.com/blog/the-will-to-choose), coupled with an ongoing challenging personal situation, has kept ‘will’ in the forefront of my curiosity this week. As the time came to think about what I wanted to share, I reached back to previous posts and landed on one from 2017 that seems apropos both to decisions that are in front of me and to the world we are each participants in.  The essence is we must not be fearful.  And, the post in full is shared below.

 As the month that we in the U.S. celebrate ‘independence’ comes to a close and as I observe the chaos of our current public discourse, I’ve been thinking about the source of freedom and about what stands in the way of creating new systems that are true to that source.

 Freedom, justice, equality – key principles and qualities upon which the United States was founded – cannot be sustained where fear is present. And, today we live in a culture of fear – overt and covert. I see fear in the reactionary systems aimed at controlling ‘the other’. And, I see these systems breaking down. These breakdowns can feed fear as well where we have not made peace with the idea of not knowing. The tighter we grasp to save them, the faster systems move to their breaking points. Many are fearful of what lies beyond. We see this throughout our culture, not only in the U.S. but around the globe.

 When fear is present we lose our ability to think clearly and to recognize the reality of the conditions that are present. We defer to the will of others. Yet, one by one, step by step (with some stumbles along the way) we are waking to realize that free will is not granted (and, thus cannot be taken away) by government (or any person or system). Free will and the will to use it are gifts from the Universe. These gifts are our opportunity to discover the unique ‘I’ that each of us is as an individual cell of the infinite Universal whole.

 And, from our individual journeys of discovery, collectively we hold the opportunity, the potential to advance freedom, justice, equality for all.  Free will is a gift that grows when exercised and nurtured with love. Not gushy, ‘roses are red’ romantic love (though that is one form of expression) but love without conditions; love that is curious, thoughtful, and pure.

We make countless choices daily, each an opportunity to choose whether to exercise our will or to submit to the will of some other. Fear is what stands in the way of consistently exercising our will.

When I reflect on the chaotic conditions throughout the world, I see a world that has lost the moral compass of free will and uses fear in an effort to control. That approach doesn’t seem to be working so well. History teaches us that revolution based on fear may change conditions on the surface, but that any change will be temporary.

Lasting change in our systems will come – indeed IS coming – from those with the courage and grit to move beyond their fear and to act from a deep knowing that the source of free will is not any government or system or person. They recognize that free will is entrusted equally in each and every one by an infinite Universe.

Up close and personal, perhaps it’s time for each of us to take a look at our own exercise of will. In that spirit, I’m asking myself these questions: Where is my will lacking? What fear(s) have me (knowingly or not) defer to the will of others? What is possible when I surrender my fear, remembering my source is not the world but the infinite Universe of which this world is just a tiny part?

Early Morning in the Woods

The Will to Choose

Early morning moon over the San Luis Valley

… will is developed out of the analytical process through which you begin to understand what you want to do with your consciousness at any given point in your experience. Gregge Tiffen (The Language of a Mystic: Awareness – July, 2009)

Will I or will I not? Do I want to? Or, not? Such is the seesaw I’ve ridden this week over what I assess should be a simple decision.

I’ve made far bigger and seemingly more consequential decisions in my life with much less vacillation and much more clarity. What was stopping me? Or better asked: how was I stopping myself?

In the back and forth of my pros and cons, I’d missed a step, an important, perhaps the important question: What do I want to do with my consciousness?  Above and beyond ‘do I want to?’ ‘do I need to?’ ‘what is the cost?’ questions, I wasn’t analyzing the choice from the perspective of my consciousness, the potential to learn and grow.

I wasn’t considering the bigger picture of flow and opportunity that is ongoing in the pure nature of consciousness. I’d forgotten to apply a fundamental truth: consciousness doesn’t discern right or wrong in our choices, it only moves to the next sequential step.

When I framed the decision in terms of how I wanted to engage my consciousness, I began to feel a shift, lightness, accompanied by a willingness to look more deeply. I had a sense of opportunity and possibility. After steering myself away from attaching to a particular outcome, I took a deeper dive. I wanted to know what was in the way of making this choice, of exercising my will and moving on, letting the chips fall where they may whatever my decision.

On that dive I found a couple of related emotions: fear and sadness. I feared that what I might discover by participating would evoke sadness. At the same time, I feared that if I didn’t participate, I would miss an opportunity to discover something new about myself, about life. Or worse, that I would put myself out of sync with the flow of energy.

I was clear that saying ‘yes’ was the path I wanted to choose, but I hesitated … not vacillating all the way back to ‘no’ but honoring a niggle of doubt that wanted to be heard. Another dive revealed that I wanted a guarantee about the outcome. What? That one again! I thought THAT was conquered. Where have you gone curiosity? Re-enter please!

And, so my answer is YES!  I’m trusting that my indecision was just a part of the path to evoking divine timing and not a delay that upsets an unfolding cycle.  Consciousness and will exercised and engaged. Curiosity restored. Onward!

Cool Hand Luke loves being out early as the sun peeks over the peaks!

The Gift of Retrograde Planets

On the trail out back as the sun peeks over the peaks

The need for adjustments within our personal life cycles exists for the same reason that galaxies are kept from bumping into one another; both are a consequence of some extremely intelligent avatars somewhere in space having created and continuing to create planet Earth within the whole scheme of the harmonic flow of energy often heard in the music of the spheres. (Patrece on behalf of P Systems – www.p-systemsinc.com)

The more we are aware of retrograde conditions and their possible influences, the more we are able to navigate through our life experiences with greater control and clarity. (Gregge Tiffen - https://www.g-systems.com/)

First, a disclaimer: I’m no expert in astrology. What I’m sharing comes not from decades of studying the planets and their influence. Rather it comes from considering what Patrece and Gregge Tiffen have shared on this topic and from observing my own life’s conditions and events. It also comes from my conviction that, despite so much evidence to the contrary, we live in a universe that is divinely ordered and anchored in love, a universe in which we are not victims unless we choose not to receive the gifts the universe offers.

What inspires me to share is that the planet Mercury went retrograde earlier this week as it does several times each year. It reminded me of the prevailing attitude when planets go retrograde: life is disrupted, ‘bad’ things happen, and that we just need to suffer through. Such an attitude casts us as victims, putting attention on the disruption and ignoring the opportunities planets in retrograde offer: gifts from a benevolent universe.

Planets do not go retrograde without purpose. Their doing helps maintain order in the cosmos, ensuring the universal “harmonic flow of energy”. Adjustments are required. Planets adjust.

As above, so below. As a part of this intelligent universe, we are given the opportunity to use the cycle of time when a planet is retrograde to do the same: adjust. Taking time to assess and to make changes during these cycles can help us avoid bumping into ourselves, one another, and the events life brings our way. (Imagine a world where we each did that, including our leaders!)

When it went retrograde this week, Mercury joined four other planets that were already in retrograde. Yes, your math is correct: five planets are currently in retrograde. Perhaps you’ve wondered why the world (and maybe your life) seems crazier and disrupted to the extreme.  Rather than looking at the chaos, I’m choosing to look to the opportunities to slow down and consider what adjustments might serve me.

Mercury (Ruler #2*) is the planet that influences decision making and communication, including all of the technology we use in both. In retrograde it presents opportunities (indeed more than one!) to slow down and pay close attention to detail in all communication, that coming in and that we’re sending out. (I’m doing my best to practice this message as I focus on this post.) This is also a time to identify and make adjustments to communication habits or patterns that aren’t working well, to examine how you manage time and energy, to assess projects underway and adjust to get/keep them on track. Notice what puts you on edge as a guide to where adjustments are needed. Mercury’s retrograde is short – ending on July 31 – but it’s potential is powerful.

Saturn (Ruler #7) retrograde invites us to look at how we use our minds. This is a good time to observe and eliminate clutter in our thought processes and to bring forward mental qualities that may be dormant. Exercise your mind and explore what keeps you from manifesting the results you’d like and refine your operating style. This retrograde ends on September 19.

Pluto (Ruler #8) influences money and success. When in retrograde it invites us to review and make sure our financial house is in order. A key question to ask is ‘what needs to be reworked to put myself on a more solid financial footing?’ This opportunity exists until October 4.

Jupiter (Ruler #6) retrograde provides opportunities to look at health and relationships, including your relationship with you, and to explore how your home environment supports you (or doesn’t). Jupiter ends its retrograde cycle on August 10.

Finally, the influence of Neptune (Ruler #9) retrograde is mostly beneath the surface, offering the opportunity to look deep within to what inspires us and what gives life meaning. It’s a time when deep reflection and solitude can serve us well. We have this opportunity until November 27.

How will you unwrap, receive, and put the gifts of these retrogrades to use? Start by slowing down, paying attention, and being curious.

* Gregge used a numbering system rather than the customary planet names in his work, as you’ll see if you visit his website for more detail on these retrogrades. Here’s the link: https://www.g-systems.com/wordpress/?cat=9

Cool Hand Luke pauses for a photo op on an early morning hike to the Zigurat

Happy Solstice!

Summer is bursting into bloom!

Nature is intimately partnered with us in this physical experience, and that is perhaps the greatest boon of our incarnate existence, as nature is directly connected to and informed by the Universe. Gregge Tiffen (Life in the World Hereafter – The Journey Continues)

A cycle ends. Another begins. Here, north of the equator, spring gives way to the summer season at 9:54am Mountain Daylight Time tomorrow, Friday June 21.  At the same friends south of the equator will bid adieu to autumn and celebrate the Winter Solstice.

Nature, quiet and restful in winter, began her slow awakening in late spring here in the Rocky Mountains of southern Colorado. Right on time, she is now bursting forth toward full bloom. Bird songs and the buzz of hummingbirds fill my listening heart with joy and gratitude for our planet and for where I’ve landed on it. The roar of Cottonwood Creek, just past peak flow from the snow melt, and the howl of coyote add their voices to morning’s song.

The cycle we call summer begins. It is a time of action, activity: planning, planting, having fun. Projects that languished in winter find new energy and focus. New opportunities present themselves abundantly, offering outlets for our attention. How will we choose to expand, to learn, to grow?

Summer Solstice is a sacred time to remember our partnership with nature. It is a time when heaven and nature sing ‘joy to the world’, not with ‘chestnuts roasting on an open fire’, but with the clear voices of birds and beasts responding to the renewal that the cycle of summer brings. Bountiful blooms and with the burbling Cottonwood Creek add to the chorus of auditory and visual delights. It is a time to remember that cycles of life move with nature, and that nature knows nothing of the clocks and calendars of man’s world.

As I write this morning, a mere 24 hours of spring remain. Having experienced a couple weeks with more scheduled, timed events than are usual for me, I look forward to celebrating the longest day of the year quietly here in the woods, enjoying the warm of the sun and allowing the flow of the day to inform me whether to move or not.

My celebration begins unexpectedly when, midway through writing, I open the door to check on Luke. New sounds entered the soundscape: clip-clop, clip-clop, the clip-clop of a horse’s hooves and a sound that I can’t describe, yet I knew it was my neighbor’s buckboard coming up the road. As she passed, I hollered a cheerful ‘good morning!’, and she invited me for a short ride. I accepted the gift as a reminder of the flow that is present always, in all ways. An auspicious beginning!

As I do in December with its partner, the Winter Solstice, I will use the Summer Solstice to recalibrate, syncing myself to the new cycle: the light that nature, my intimate partner on this journey, brings forth right on time. I invite you to give yourself some quiet time in nature to do the same.  

Flow! An unexpected start to my Solstice celebration!

Father Time

Gently Resting in the Shady Woods

A wise and benevolent father protects the day-by-day life of his progeny and prepares them for an endless journey of growth, development, and maturity.  Gregge Tiffen (Father Time – June 2007)

In what was a big leap into possibility last week (you can read it here http://cindyreinhardt.com/blog/the-end-of-time-a-fantasy-of-possibility), I suggested what the world might be like without clocks and other tools we use to control one another. I’ve continued to reflect on this for myself, reexamining my own relationship to cycles and time.

As I began to think about this week’s musing, I found myself reviewing previous June posts. I wasn’t surprised to find that I’d explored time several years back. And, that I’d done so just in time for Father’s Day here in the U.S. (Good timing, I’d say!). My musing then rings true today, so, I brushed off and polished that post just a bit to share this week.

In his early writing, Gregge Tiffen reflected on time, the clock and how it is used as a mechanism for manipulation and control.  His writing along with my own struggles with time led me to think that we might be wise to look at time anew.

This week, in many parts of the globe fathers and father figures will be celebrated for their roles in preparing us for this journey called life.  For some, the benevolent, wise father created context and order in our early life giving us a foundation on which to set sail on our course in life.  For them, we are grateful.

Others lived a different experience: fathers, who lacking wisdom and benevolence, sought to control. For them, with forgiveness, we can also be grateful. Perhaps that forgiveness can come more easily when we understand that fathers often feel trapped in systems that equate success with control and that honor time over natural instinct and cycles.

Harmony is the essence of nature, instinct, and natural cycles. As I continue to experiment with living less by the clock and more by awareness of my personal cycles, I feel more harmonious within.  Doing so is not so easy in this 24/7, fast-paced world.

We use time as a weapon. Finding it hard to let go and trust that events will unfold in divine perfect time, we set deadlines. I’ve come to understand just how ‘deadly’ they are. I wonder: How deeply have I bought into this world’s accepted systems where time is used to control? How might life be if we were more compassionate with ourselves and others about time?  How can I be wiser and more benevolent with time?

At one time or another, we’ve all put pressure on ourselves with words and beliefs about scarcity of time (‘I don’t have time …’). Some years ago, I broke the habit of using that language and replaced it with ‘I have enough time for everything that is important in my life’. Slowly that became my belief. It feels like wisdom, and it opens the door to being benevolent to me and to others.

With practice we can ease the pressure and begin to make choices that honor our natural rhythms – not as a program to complete, but as exploration of a different way to live. Eat when you’re hungry. Rest when you’re weary. Bloom when you’re ready. That may be the best of benevolence and wisdom in a world that sometimes seems to have lost both. 

Romping Through Water on the Trail

The End of Time: A Fantasy of Possibility

New Rock Stacks on a Morning Walk

The proper use of cycles is to evolve to a natural manifestation. Deadlines give pressure. Task-masters are brutal “Father Timers” who use time as a weapon. In our current society, this is being intensely perpetuated under the guise of progress. Gregge Tiffen (Father Time – June, 2007)

No, this is not a post about the end of the world. Rather, it’s about what emerged from stress I experienced in the midst of working with two synergistic professionals who I’ve engaged to support me in navigating a current challenge. 

Their work is invaluable to me. They helped with a gnarly event a couple years ago, so it was natural to reach out when a similar situation arose recently. Although their work is synergistic, how each deals with scheduling and time is different, and it’s guided by the nature of their work with clients. After working individually with each, I found myself caught in a dissonance between their two approaches when we came together. 

In dancing with that dissonance and, especially in exploring a way forward that will work for each of us (that part of the journey is still in process), I was reminded of my vision of a world that works for all. As I immersed myself in the vision, I saw ending the abusive, controlling concept of time as a key aspect toward real progress. Yikes!  

Make no small visions! Stay with me and let’s envision together how this might unfold …

Open your mind and your heart, and imagine a world without time. No clocks to measure the seconds, minutes, and hours. No calendars to command your presence at some pre-set event.  If you manage to get beyond ‘no ____ way’, you’ll likely imagine chaos, confusion and the craziness of a world out of control. What? We have that already you say? Yep, we do. Hey, maybe our ‘progress’ isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Stretch yourself and envision that time as we know it does not exist. Rather that we (me, you, EVERYone) are deeply in touch with ourselves and our purpose on the planet. We are aware of our place in harmony with nature and others. We learn from nature how cycles work and how to dance in harmony with the cycles of life and the events in those cycles. We trust that in making choices that are true to our individual nature, events will unfold perfectly for our highest good and the good of all. Could this be what ‘natural manifestation’ looks like? Did I mention that trust and faith are key ingredients?

This is a vision, a fantasy if you like, that I’ve held for a very long time: perhaps for my entire life but only with awareness for the past four decades or so. This possibility is what engages my curiosity about mysticism and metaphysics, spurred my interest in personal and spiritual growth, and guided me toward coaching.  

More than a possibility, this is how I believe the Universe in general and life on our planet in particular is designed to be.

Like being on a long road trip still far away from the destination, we aren’t there … yet.  I’m not ‘there’ yet. But I am on the journey, and, heck, a few million millennia and lifetimes from now, I might just seize the elusive brass ring.

Posing on a Beautiful Morning

The Grace of the Universe - A Rerun

Looking Ahead Through the Portal

This week I’ve been reflecting on change and how I respond to events that life presents, especially events which I didn’t see coming and that present challenges.  Those reflections led me back to the basics of life and law (Universal law that is) and to what is important each day:  choosing how I want to be present and how I want to respond to life.  Employing the law of magnification supports me to remember the importance of my choices and, hopefully, to choose wisely moment to moment, day to day.  May this rerun bring light to your day!

You live by the grace of the Universe interacting with you. You do not live by yourself alone. … The Universe always magnifies your action. Gregge Tiffen (The Language of a Mystic: Change – May, 2009)

There is no need for temples, no need for complicated philosophies. My brain and my heart are my temples; my philosophy is kindness. Dalai Lama

The grace of the Universe presents the challenge of our times. May we rise to meet it in kind.

Whether we are aware of it or not, the Universe is interacting with us 24/7, magnifying each and every action we take in its own way.

Think about that. Let it sink in for just a moment. Everything you do is magnified. EVERY THING!

Say a kind word, offer a smile to someone experiencing challenging times, listen deeply to another view, share an uplifting post on social media. MAGNIFIED!  Take action on a project; choose to eat healthy, nourishing food; call or write your elected representatives. MAGNIFIED!

The Universe is benevolent (at least that’s my belief), but it is not selective in what it magnifies (everything – remember?). We humans were given the gift of free will, the power of choice that the Universe did not keep for itself in this grand design called Life. Make a snarky remark. MAGNIFIED!  Engage in an act of violence. MAGNIFIED!  Protest in anger toward others. MAGNIFIED!  Shut down in fear. MAGNIFIED! 

I’ve been reflecting on this law of magnification in terms of what I want more of in my life as well as the kind of world that I’d prefer to live in.  That reflection brought me right back to where I live, the simple choices I make each day. If I want to be a writer, WRITE. Give the Universe words strung together into ideas and step back to allow the magnification. Know that magnification is happening even when I don’t see it. I’m making adjustments in how I create each day to do just that.

If the world I envision is one of peace, kindness, compassion then my responsibility is to choose thoughts, words, and deeds that are peaceful, kind, and compassionate. Give the Universe THAT to magnify.

Of course, the Universe does not magnify alone.  We are its agents, little magnifiers one and all. My words each week are a magnification of something I read, experienced (usually both!), or am in the midst of considering. You read those words and are inspired to make a change in your life, or to share the post with others, or to delete. Whatever your choice, your action magnifies mine and it offers your own to be magnified.  

The meadowlark sings its cheerful song each morning in the meadow where we walk. The president tweets. Both are magnified by a Universe that magnifies everything. But we, you and I, have the freedom and the power to choose what we magnify. Imagine a world where the meadowlark’s song or the Dalai Lama’s quote is the ‘breaking news’ of the day, and the president’s tweets go mostly ignored. Do the words peaceful, kind, compassionate come to your mind’s eye?

That world is possible if we have the will to choose to put our attention on peace over conflict, kindness over anger, and compassion over judgement. It’s already emerging daily in the thousands (perhaps millions) of thoughts, words and deeds that are peace-filled, kind, and caring. May we choose that path – moment to moment, when the choice is easy and, especially when it’s not.The grace of the Universe presents the challenge of our times. May we rise to meet it in kind.

The River of Life often flows like the spring snow melt on Cottonwood Creek …

Kindness (Revised, Reprised)

Wintry Breakfast for the Hummers

The Universe always magnifies your action. … You are to recognize … that as you act, you are responsible for the validity of your actions in a positive spiritual mode. Gregge Tiffen (The Language of a Mystic: Change – May, 2009)

As I settled in to write this morning I experienced a striking sensory contrast: as I gazed out over a snowy, wintry landscape, I heard the summer sound of hummingbirds buzzing around the feeder. Like seeing photos of my new grandson earlier this week and hearing the news that everyone in the family is doing well, the contrast brought a smile.

I’m aiming to smile a lot these days. Not sneering, snarky ‘yeah, right’ smiles (though I notice lots of stimuli for that!). I want to offer genuine, heartfelt smiles for the Universe as it does what it does: magnify everything.  I want to speak and act in ways that are kind:  kind to me; kind to Luke; kind to family, to friends, to neighbors, to strangers, and beyond. 

That’s what I want to see and experience more of in our world: kindness, miles of smiles of kindness.

What we see in the world each day is a reflection and magnification of our individual actions. The Universe doesn’t distinguish good/bad, kind/unkind, loving/hate-filled. It simply magnifies our action, ALL of our action.

Distinguishing and choosing is our job – mine and yours. When I remember that my actions will be magnified, I’m better equipped to choose more wisely.

I wrote about this idea that the Universe magnifies in a post here last May.  In that post I suggested that

The grace of the Universe presents the challenge of our times. May we rise to meet it in kind.

I continue to hold that thought as a prayer in my heart each day as I aim to be my best expression of me in a world that seems ever more chaotic and unkind.  I dream of a world where kindness leads, a world suggested by my friend, the prolific author Rivera Sun in her awesome novel, The Dandelion Insurrection

THIS! Clear, Simple, and Requires Consistent Practice

Did I mention that it’s a snowy May morning?

The Power of Curiosity

What’s ahead on this path of life?

You can apply curiosity to all your experiences in life. Gregge Tiffen (Open Secrets: An Air of Optimism – May, 2011)

 These words leapt off the page this morning as I began my Thursday immersed in the question: What wants to emerge in The Zone this week?  It isn’t that this is a new idea to me, in fact ‘curiosity’ has made an appearance in no fewer than 66 issues (yep, I was curious and counted them). This week makes 67 … but I digress.

 Being curious is a choice we make, a powerful tool to help us navigate all aspects of life. Is it any wonder that as children before our natural curiosity was snuffed out, most of us constantly asked ‘Why? Why? Why?’ Somewhere along the line our culture, parents, teachers trained us that it is better to know than to ask. So, we stopped asking and started knowing (or acting as if we do, even when we don’t). At least I did. And, although life worked out pretty well, some of the results along the way weren’t so pretty.

 Today, thanks in part to my coach training and 25+ coaching clients to see choices where they think no choice exists, along with my ongoing study of metaphysics, I find myself invoking curiosity quite often. Perhaps it’s become a habit. If so, it’s not one to break, but rather one to nourish so that I can flourish.

 Curiosity is a powerful tool for creating a shift in our personal energy.  Asking yourself a question with a sincere desire to discover an answer can move you from being angry, stuck, fearful (and a host of other low energy places) to being calm, ambitious, loving, and in action (even if that action is simply reflection or research).

 I experienced a reminder of just that this week, after enrolling in a program to give my writing a boost. My excitement quickly shifted to dismay as I read the ‘Welcome Letter’ which included an ‘offer’ for yet another program, which it sounded as if I needed in order to get value from the one I’d just signed up for. My immediate reaction was ‘Ugh! Here we go again …’ 

 Somehow I remembered to pause and take a breath. I stopped myself from holding on to the assumptions that I’d made (They just want more money. This program will never work for me.). Then, I decided to get the facts (i.e. is my success in the program conditioned on the info in the second?). In that pause, I saw clearly past disappointments in programs.

 Rather than blaming the programs, I questioned my level of commitment to make them work for and provide value to me. My answer wasn’t especially pretty, yet it opened the door that allowed me to become clear about my commitment to this one: I will engage fully from a place of curiosity about how I can make the program work for me (rather than expecting ‘it’ to do the heavy lifting that is mine to do). The first day of engagement was fabulous! Curiosity energized the process (and no cat lost their life in the process).

 In an earlier post, I wrote ‘Stress flies away on the wings of curiosity.’ Today I can add that applying curiosity to the experiences in life is a pathway to peace, joy, creativity and satisfaction.

 How will it serve you to be curious today?

Curiosity is never at rest here.