Gratitude

I think this is the longest 'space between blogs' I've ever had. I've still been going through a strange, desert like time. Maybe I should think of it as 'dessert' instead, particularly given what I'm going to write now...




A couple of weeks ago, I telephoned a dear friend, Shayla Wright. It was so wonderful to simply be 'heard'. No sympathy, no fixing, just pure acknowledgement of what I was going through. Later she sent me a beautiful prayer she's been working with. At first I felt, oh no, I don't want to do that... too much hard work, It's too long, too many instructions...I'm too down etc etc. (hah hah). Well, I did start doing it. And I was blessedly reminded of how wonderful it is to just sit, and be. The day after I started doing the prayer, I got another short story acceptance for publication. No doubt coincidence, but one of the things I asked for in my prayer was 'encouragement'. Another dear friend had said to me that I sounded more discouraged than depressed, and that really rang a bell ( and helped how I felt about what was going on ). Anyway, I have been doing the prayer quite often, and things have been moving.

Deeply moving. In all ways. The support I've gotten, particularly from the people here at Gaia and Diving Deeper is just flooring me. Because of them I might be able to go to a truly awesome writing/spiritual retreat given by Deena Metzger in Los Angeles next month. This retreat will be 'using the tools of writing, story telling, dreaming, prayer, silence, and divination, we will seek to move more fully into the writing paths that each of us have been called to on behalf of the planet and the restoration of creation. We will address our personal healing if and when it is necessary to remove the obstacles to fully embracing those paths, though the emphasis will be on global, rather than personal, healing.'

And even if I cannot go to it, I feel the movement towards my own reconnection to self has begun, and from there, well, anything can happen.

 I am so grateful for how beautiful people are and have been with me (you know who you are...).

Another teacher of mine suggests just sitting in a state of 'gratitude' - even if you don't feel you have anything to be grateful for; that the energy of gratitude is one of the most powerful things on earth. Actually, if you tune in, there is always something to feel grateful for, isn't there?

I'll copy the prayer below. It's Shayla's, and you can find more of her work and writings on her website at http://www.barefootjourneys.net/.

Prayer-opening to the field of love/intelligence

It’s easy to think of prayer in a way that makes it seem like something archaic, precious, or irrelevant. My experience has been that if we can drop our ideas and beliefs about it, it is actually something quite natural and spontaneous, something we have all done at one time or another, without even calling it prayer. Another way of approaching it is to call it simply 'asking for help.'

I’m going to describe it in stages, but these are not linear. They spiral around and intersect with each other as you engage in this kind of praying from your heart.
Stage One: Sit quietly and take a couple of minutes to relax, feel your body and your breath, and open to your experience, just as it is. Allow your whole being to soften, and allow your awareness to open as well. You don’t need to focus on anything, just let the field of your awareness be wide open.

Stage Two: Maybe you already know what you want to pray about. It could be a dilemma or struggle in your life, a place where you need help, support or guidance. If you’re not sure, just listen inside your own being for a minute or two, until you feel what your prayer is going to be about.

Stage Three: In whatever way feels most natural to you, allow yourself to open and acknowledge the vast field of love/intelligence. (or wisdom/compassion) You might have your own name for this field--the indigenous traditions call it the web of life, with which each being in the universe is connected. In India they call it Indra’s Net. Everyone of us has experienced, at one time or another, a sense of this field, the infinite web of life that interconnects us all. Most of the time we walk around behaving as if it does not exist, because it is invisible. We can’t  see it, touch it or taste it. When we ignore it, we lose touch with one of our deepest resources, because the nature of this field is that it is loving and it is intelligent. See how it feels to acknowledge this field, even if your conditioned mind knows nothing about it, or remains quite sceptical about it's existence.

Stage Four: Ask this vast field of energy, of consciousness for help. Make it clear what you need, what your request is, what your difficulty is. Be honest and vulnerable. Don’t be afraid to express from your heart how much you really need help or guidance.

Stage Five: Take a few moments to be clear about the fact that you do not know how this vast and mysterious field of love/intelligence will respond to your request. You just have to stay open, curious, receptive, and willing to receive what comes, in whatever form it appears.

Stage Six: Let go and carry on with your day, or night.

Stage Seven: Offer this prayer up to the field as often as you feel moved to do so, and ask yourself, “Am I really willing to receive this help, in whatever way it comes to me?”