The Wisdom of Personal Practice

When I was young, I rebelled against religion, traditions, and rituals--mistakenly lumping them into the same category. To me, anything that was repeated reeked of falsehood and felt like the antithesis of spontaneity and truth. To me, this was black and white. Religion COULD ONLY be a cover up. Tradition COULD ONLY be a script that suppressed what would otherwise naturally arise from a present moment.

Only as I grew older and began to question and break down my own ideas and my mind's way of looking at things did I begin to see how having such strong attitudes about anything could never, ever serve me. Could never, ever be true. Attitudes are only needed where true understanding has not yet settled in.

And the deeper I went into myself, the more I discovered an ocean of openness wherein each action that springs into life has entirely a life of its own.

And the deeper and deeper I continued to go, the more I discovered the beauty of sitting with intention--simple as that. The more I discovered that this peaceful, empty truth within us that is nothing and everything all at the same time... exists in a completely different tempo than the world around us. It exists in stillness and silence, and often, the world around us plays in fast-paced chaos. And we, as humans, as divine and rooted in oneness as we are, ALSO exist very much in the world around us--there is no denying that... which means we are vulnerable to the influence of energies that we are surrounded by.

Our vulnerability is a beautiful, beautiful thing. And intelligence about our system and our sensitivities is an equally beautiful thing. If we consider that we are all made of silence and stars--AND WE ALL ARE--and that living here and now in this wild wonderful world can have a tendency to *create the feeling* that we have been UPROOTED from that silence and stars... then we can begin to imagine how having a daily practice where we re-orient into our true roots (of silence and stars) can serve us, our lives, our relationships, and the people around us in the deepest and truest of ways.

I do not know where I would be (within the wild scheme of where our awareness can latch) if I did not keep with a daily meditation practice. Quite the opposite of suppression and falsehood, it keeps me alive, flowing, truthful, and rooted in the simplicity and wisdom of life, God, the silence and the stars.

If there were one gift you might give to yourself to support yourself in remaining true in this life, to knowing, feeling, and embodying your divinity, love, and wild & precious heart, I would encourage you so very, very much to begin a daily practice. It could be anything that works for you. Anything we engage in that takes us into presence and the truth within ourselves–into totality with the moment–is meditation, be it singing, dancing, praying, journaling, yoga, crying, making love or art or a good meal, anything else. A daily practice is a living thing, and it can change too... but the gift is in giving yourself the moment to remember the truth of who you are... to anchor deep into the presence of your being... and to watch the miraculous and infinite ways in which that serves and shines your one and beautiful life.

Consider it xx

Love xx Sky

Inspired to RELAX, Inspired to BE

Do you ever feel like you have to do it all on your own?

Like there just isn't enough energy and inspiration within you to get it all done or to make some good magic with your life?

I know exactly what you mean.

After recently experiencing the joy of receiving an amazing book offer, and going forward with that relationship, I have been faced with not only the enchantment and wonderfulness of all of that, but also the strong feeling of oh shit, now what? While the answer may seem obvious, (now what=edit, share more, put yourself out there), the "now whats" that we often feel do not arise out of a stupor of not knowing "what to do," but rather from the energetic plateau we meet again and again throughout or lives where doing feels contrived or inspiration feels blocked.

Now what? can be daunting when the energy is not there for a participation in whatever is happening, particularly when you think it should be. How many times in your life have you attempted to muster up the energy for this or that because you thought you "should" or because you believed you "needed to," only to feel more exhausted and out-of-touch as a result? We all know what that is like.

When we have expectations about how we should feel or what should be happening, and we get on that bandwagon of actually believing those expectations, then we are in for quite the ride. Why? A few reasons. First off, although we know what is best for us in the innermost sense, we do not know how that is meant to manifest. In other words, it may be your dharma and your truth to focus your energy on this or that project, but you may need to rest this week and focus on your inner world in order to really be able to show up in all of your power and glory. There might be the most amazing, perfect event happening on Thursday night, but if your spirit is saying stay home or I need to be in solitude, then to go to that event on Thursday night is to pull yourself out of alignment and, believe it or not, actually delay you in living out the most aligned unfolding. Whoever you thought you'd meet at that event, well, you probably would not meet the most ideal match for you; rather, you'd actually meet that harmonic match naturally, like walking to get a cup of coffee the next morning after a good night to yourself.

If you just stayed in on Thursday night, perhaps meditated or took a warm bath and just let yourself be, who knows? Perhaps, in that deep relaxation, the perfect next step would arise. The divine inspiration would swirl through your being upon you finally having space to let go. When we let go and let God, the possibilities are truly endless!

We are never goin' it alone. When we start to feel that way, it is a signal that we need to rest and remember. We are putting too much pressure on ourselves to do or to be something we are not or to fill out imagined shoes of who we think we need to become. It's all a trip and it's just a trip to take you home. Within yourself. At peace, and giving space for God to rush through your being and light up your cells. Divine inspiration always comes in divine timing. That's just the way it is.

As for me, I am drinking my own medicine. The past week included a few challenges and plenty of tears, and I did my best to let each tear clean the lens of the flashlight so that I may peer inside and see more clearly. So that I may help liberate whatever needs liberating. By resting into each moment and staying clear-eyed for what I am being shown, I know the way is cleared for inspiration to have the space to rise, and that is the best I can do. And that is enough. In the end, it's all one big opportunity to see more, clear more, love more and be more...which really just means: see, clear, love, be... there is no more when we are with these aspects of being.

Furthermore, I realize that I am, actually inspired right now: I'm inspired to be. I am the inspiration of restfulness. Inspiration is not meant to equate to doing.

So remember, there is no "should." We feel how we feel, and that is that. How we feel is never right and never wrong. How we feel benefits not from our judgement, but from our listening. When we slow down and move deeper within, past the details of what it all seems to be about, and listen to what our being is actually saying... we fall into alignment, we fall into grace, and we remember our divine place.

Let yourself be... let go of the pressure. Everything happens in its time and we have no idea what that actually is. Keep listening to yourself carefully and with love, and all is then as aligned as it can be.