A W E N

First Quarter Moon in Scorpio

“Awen is the thread that connects us to that life force. When we connect in good relationship to the world around us, those threads shimmer with awen, with inspiration. We know that we are a part of the web, wholly and utterly connected. When we feel that connection with other beings, soul to soul, and our sense of self lessens, we are inspired by that connection. We then think of ourselves less, and our perception opens out to a wider perspective on the world, one that is more inclusive rather than just our own self-centred point of view. We become a thread in the web… Awen helps us to see beyond ourselves, and perhaps paradoxically to allow us to see ourselves in everything.”

-Joanna van der Hoeven via: http://torstone.org/featured-articles/the-awen

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Yesterday I was triggered emotionally during a challenging conversation with a person that I care very deeply for. [check out yesterday’s post if you want some background]

And last night, I processed and did my best to just allow whatever emotions to be there and move their way around and out [emotions, after all, are just energy that want to move]. I was a witness to the stories I was creating [that were doing their best to pull me away from me]; the projections of blame or the ways in which I was misunderstood or rejected— how it couldn’t have been my fault or it was all my fault [I tend to swing between those extremes for a bit before I can find the balance point of truth]. And then I went to bed, tired and a bit emotionally spent after a few good, intense cries. I didn’t judge it, I didn’t force a resolution to it. I just let it be and move.

And then, I woke up this morning, on this watery Scorpio first quarter moon, day three of my cycle, feeling more in my body than I had been in weeks. The intense release catalyzed by a challenging situation dropped me right into the space that was created by allowing that big energy to move.

I went about my day, had a good laugh and chat with my friend/badass barista/inspiring creative/all around awesome human at my local coffee shop and had a slow and gentle day [this was my day off after a weekend of client work]. I drank my coffee, enjoying every delicious bite of the protein brownie that I ordered with my too many shots of espresso. I read a book i’ve been slowly picking my way through and allowed a powerful story to move me to tears [yes in public] and at the crescendo of the story, “River” by Leon Bridges came on my Spotify playlist— and I allowed myself to pause, close my eyes and allow the lyrics and the melody to sweep me along as I physically swayed to the rhythm. I came home to a surprise gift on my doorstep, sent by my dear sweet sister, Natalie, and upon opening it was moved to more tears of unfiltered gratitude for such a generous gesture.

This was a pleasurable day for me. Tuned into the subtleties of my internal tempo. Responding to the world around me from an embodied, open and loving space. Catalyzed by an intense and uncomfortable conversation and subsequent “negative” emotions that sparked an intense emotional response. I slowed down and allowed myself to be done—allowed my day to flow instead of manically doing to avoid feeling.

And because I was open to lean into a challenging conversation—because I was able to hold space for sadness and feelings of anger and rejection to be and move through me— I created space for more love, more joy, more sensitivity to subtle beauty in my present environment to flood into my awareness and ignite my senses in a simple and delicious way. Sweet beautiful contrast.

This is living intentionally, in loving relationship: with myself and the world around me.

I share this in an attempt to paint a picture of what becomes possible, what depths of being we have the capacity to access, when we allow ourselves the space, of curiosity, non-judgement and radical honesty to witness the all-ness of our humanity.

It is a spectrum. One most of us were taught was dangerous to swing to the edges of. One we fight, repress and reject in our attempts to be “right” and “good” [which at the core is the instinctive desire to be safe, being the social creatures we are— and is a hindrance to our being fully expansive beings].

Do I like having challenging conversations with loved ones? No.

But do I think they are bad or wrong or regret them? No.

Because even when I don’t show up in my highest capacity, even when i’m reactive and not present; when I allow fear to run the show for just long enough to wince at what comes out of my mouth, or when I want to lose my shit on someone who I both love dearly and want to throttle some days— I am now at a point in my life where I can accept my humanity for what it is: imperfect, intense, often times irrational. And my emotional states are all a part of a greater cycle that are designed to ebb and flow, guiding me deeper into a beautiful trusting and soul-full relationship with myself.

I don’t judge the experience as my being bad or good or in this case, him being right or wrong, I witness the experience and what it brought up in me and work through the charge that is living in my body, asking to be tended to.

Do I run around wildly reacting and projecting on the world around me? No.

I take time to process, do my best to see objectively the role I played and where I could have shown up better, been more loving or compassionate; I acknowledge what I was feeling in reaction to the other persons response to me so I can understand what it was that was upsetting me. I question the beliefs or old stories that I was tying to the current experience and decide if it’s the same thing, or just fear telling me a story of the imaginary danger i’m in.

And then I make the next best decision I can from a place of presence and what feels in the highest good in this moment, from my internal power place; from my truth.

The key to this is presence and awareness and a capacity to sit with self through moments of discomfort. I haven’t always been able to hold space for this so I know the contrast and what the judgement of being “wrong” or imperfect does to keep us in cycles that don’t serve us. I know how crushing this type of experience can be— how dangerous it can feel because of how deep the conditioning runs and how the rest of the world currently responds to authentic humanity as a whole—I really get it. Most of the world hasn’t done the work of coming home to self and accepting our inherent humanity. I know this, because it is not only what I support others in unlocking within their own journey, but it has also been my consistent self-work for the better part of the last 5 years. This is coming home. And I see everywhere I look the unnecessary suffering as a result of avoidance and rejection of self.

So I get that this journey into the unknown can be really isolating and scary without a lot of examples of how to walk the walk. It takes courage to step into the dark and stumble around. But the beautiful truth in it all, is whether we know it or not in this moment, we all have the capacity to hold the tension of the paradox of being spiritual beings having a human experience. We have everything we need inside of us to hold space for our emotional spectrum and choose the responses that best represents who we are, our integrity and values, moment to moment. We have the capacity to set boundaries that make it very clear what is ok for us, and what is not. And we have the capacity to hold strong on those boundaries as that is truly what enables us to be open-hearted, compassionate, whole beings showing up in the world… It’s all there for us. We just have to dive in and make our way back, to remember what is innately and divinely ours.

It is not easy work to get there. It’s incredibly confronting. And you will mess up a lot, you will fall on your face— more than you want to ever acknowledge or imagine, and there is perfection in that because that is how we learn; it’s how we grow. And it is how we create a space to enable to cultivating and nourishment of the relationships we deeply and inherently desire— both with self and with others.

This is a microcosm of the larger and necessary transition that the collective is calling out for even if they don’t consciously know it by name. It’s the shift from transactional interacting to relationships. From economy to ecosystem. This is about cultivating relationship.

In order to receive another and accept and grow to trust them— build solid, safe and unconditionally loving relationships— we have to be able to accept that others are imperfect and messy: they are human. In order to accept that in others, we first have to hold space for and accept that within ourselves. And in order to get to that point, we have to be able to witness and feel our humanity. All of it. We have to learn to sit with the tension of the courageous vulnerability required to go to the depths of being and excavate the truth that’s been there all along.

Awen is a state of being, experienced through a clarity that only conscious awareness can hold the capacity for.

And this is why I say I am grateful for the challenges like I had last night, because without them, I would not be able to push against the edges of my comfort zone. Without the loving relationship cultivated with this other human— that has taken time and had it’s ups and downs, but at the core is built on a deep trust and respect for one another— there would not have been a space to be opened to experience confrontation that neither of us is particularly comfortable with. That space gave us the liberty to both be reactive and recognize we can survive; allowed us to experientially learn that just because we disagree, or one or both of us is triggered or hurt, our mutual love is unconditional. Even when we don’t like the other very much in the moment.

The part I didn’t share with you last night, was while I was charged amidst the conversation and I left it feeling a bit on fire from the inside, we also held a respect for one another as we each acknowledged our defenses and miscommunications. We expressed gratitude for the other[me a little begrudgingly, but I was doing the best I could in that moment] and said goodbye with love. I had my own work to do after to sort through the response I was feeling in my body, but again, that was mine to sort through. And as i’ve already described, that process of taking ownership of my own experience, led me deeper into me; reminded me as reinforcement that I can survive a challenging conversation with a man I care for without the world ending [deep irrational abandonment fears come on strong and need some reinforcement to prove they aren’t true sometimes]. And it opened a space for deeper embodiment to flood in so I could experience today at a depth that wasn’t accessible the day before. It was hard and it was ok.

Trust comes from experience, and patience and standing in through the discomfort and accepting humanity—being able to witness the self in other. We are all connected. We all breathe and sleep and bleed. We all feel. And we have forgotten this on the surface level. This is where awen comes in. Intentionally building and standing in the discomfort of the vulnerability of relating with self and one another. This is where we must move if we want to create a world where there instead of being in constant conflict with one another we can begin to bring others in closer; holding space, in love, for all. We must build relationship.

“For awen to exist, there must be a relationship. We cannot be inspired unless we are open, and we cannot be open unless we have established a relationship, whether that is with the thunder, the blackbird or a god.  It is cyclical in nature; we open and give of ourselves and in doing so we receive, and vice versa. Letting go, releasing into that flow of awen allows it to flow ever more freely, and we find ourselves inspired not only in fits and bursts of enlightenment or inspiration but all the time, carrying that essence of connection and wonder with us at all times.” 

-Joanna van der Hoeven via: http://torstone.org/featured-articles/the-awen

“Power In Your Hands” via IG @ameyasrealm; print available on https://ameyasrealm.com/

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Day 8/28 {Being} moved: Sometimes I have to wander blindly for a bit to figure out where it is i’m going. This piece was a wandering journey that I, full transparency, have not enjoyed [the writing today that is]. I wanted desperately for it to be a short, quick and to the point expression so I could go about my evening. That didn’t happen. This is the practice and challenge of this challenge. Following the calls I’m getting in the present moment and seeing where they take me. Amidst it all, the theme, the thread that felt inspired to pull today, is “awen” . I’m grateful I stuck with it, through my resistance to find the point my heart wanted to express tonight. I’m continuing to learn about myself day in and day out. What a beautiful wild confusing mess this all is ;)

Today I am overwhelmed with love, and inspired by the generosity and fierce grace of the beautiful beings in my life. My sisters, my family, my soul mates. And special shout out to my soul sister, who was the first DM I saw in the morning that started off with “I just read your post- who do we need to hex?” 🤣🤣🤣{she was joking, but I felt good to know she had my back}. And with that, it’s almost midnight and I may or may not turn into a pumpkin or something like that, so I will say goodnight. As always, deep thanks to you being here, reading my words, following along with my journey of reflecting in response to the world around me.

With gratitude and always LOVE,