A happy Medusa new moon to your fine self!
What if things being difficult and challenging was a sign that you were on the right path?
This flies in the face of some New Age thought that things are supposed to be easy, flowing, unobstructed, and if they’re not, you’re on the wrong path.
Not so much, maybe.
Since it seems ‘up’ for a few people around and about, I’m sharing the following post from the Sophia’s Children archives.
It’s fun to revisit because it includes a couple of my favorite quotes, excerpts, and myth-stories (like the one about Fatima the Spinner and her Tent … if you haven’t met Fatima, just follow the links).
Wishing you strong roots and healthy senses (it is a Taurus-Venus new moon, after all!), and lots of Medusa (see the previous Medusa Wisdom post if you missed that one!).
Big Love,
Jamie
May 18, 2015 at 4:10 pm
Thank you so much, Jamie, for (re)posting this. It was a divinely timed read after my prayer and meditation time this morning…the perfect affirmation and encouragement that I needed. I *know* that the “right” path is often a challenging one. I’ve often said that many desire able characteristics….faith, patience, perseverance, are like muscles…they need some resistance and heavy usage to grow big. :-). I’m feeling a bit like Fatima right now…lol
May 18, 2015 at 4:21 pm
I’m so glad that it was well-timed inspiration and affirmation for you, Grace. That must have been the ‘nudge’ to (re)post it. And yes indeed, I too can appreciate feeling a lot like Fatima at times! Those ‘muscles’ are getting strong … 🙂 (And let’s just say, thank the Holy Divine for answered prayer and a sense of humor!). I’m wishing you very, very well. Love, Jamie
May 19, 2015 at 12:08 pm
Thank you, Jamie. My life has had many unexpected challenges which have taken me in new directions and helped me grow. I did what I felt was right and followed my heart. I don’t tend to think in terms of path, but, in those terms, I feel that in following my heart, the path opened before me.
May 19, 2015 at 9:06 pm
You’re welcome, Joanne. Thanks for adding your voice to the conversation. There are so many words we can use to describe it (and so many different ways that different traditions do!). In this culture, it’s an art to follow our heart (I didn’t mean for that to rhyme, but rhyme it does). 🙂 That’s a beautiful way of phrasing it: “…in following my heart, the path opened before me.” I can feel the ‘ahhhhh’ of that. Blessings, Jamie
May 19, 2015 at 12:49 pm
I like, “Caputo writes that any true calling will seem impossible or hopelessly obstructed, at least at times, but the living into it brings us to the change of heart and the renewal of mind that ultimately makes the thing or the change or the bona fide transformation possible.”
I think obstacles and challenges make us stronger and the stronger we become the more we are true to ourselves, our life paths and to serving others.
I have never lived that supposed dream life of only going with things that open up easily for me, for no matter how hard I try to go with the flow, or ask for it, it just doesn’t flow so easily, It appears that life is always challenging me, throwing obstacles in my path – and especially when I’m closest to my dearest and most heartfelt dreams, and that is how I know- and just like hurdles, we must keep jumping over them and not give up, lose faith, even if it means changing tact, and surrendering, waiting patiently, knowing when to strike, when to pull out and when to change direction again and again if need be, and to accept the manifestation that presents itself!
I think being grateful for the challenge helps immensely with the pain of the experience 🙂
May 19, 2015 at 9:04 pm
Thank you, Bridget. I’m not surprised that excerpt resonated with you, or that you appreciated it. A native american elder from this region of the U.S. recently shared something about ‘flowing like water’ – maybe that’s what the myriad challenges and obstructions teach us? A very Saturn-Neptune dynamic. I hope all’s well there with you. xoxo Jamie
May 20, 2015 at 3:14 am
‘Flowing like water’ are the moments of grace when it all comes together after the struggle, and when we are creatively in the ‘inflow’ trusting and receptive. I think the Pluto/Uranus conjunction opposite Saturn generation of which we are part, have many such obstructions to our paths, on our journeys to transform ourselves and collective values. I think one of the keys to ‘flowing like water’ is non-attachment to outcomes, ‘letting go’ which has been one of my hardest lessons! blessings:) xo
May 21, 2015 at 4:13 pm
Beautiful, Bridget. And from what I can see, there is something with the Uranus-Pluto-in-Virgo conjunction group where the path (likely related to the purpose) seems just that. ‘Flowing like water’ makes for a good mantra/meditation, actually. xoxo Jamie
May 20, 2015 at 4:12 pm
no mud, no lotus,
seems true in
the gardens
of our life 🙂
May 21, 2015 at 4:17 pm
Beautiful, thanks for sharing that. I really resonate with that insight or verse about the lotus growing out of the mud, but isn’t defiled by its environment. That, too, is a good meditation! Many thanks for visiting and commenting. xoxo Jamie
May 22, 2015 at 6:29 pm
“If it’s difficult, is it the wrong path?” is such a great question. I especially like your observations about the feel-good ideas of our times. I read the original posting, and appreciate all the references and links. Lots to contemplate.
Bridget nailed it with this statement: “I think obstacles and challenges make us stronger and the stronger we become the more we are true to ourselves, our life paths and to serving others.”
Here’s my poetic way of saying something similar…
If pleasure makes me happy,
why is more of it never enough?
And if I couldn’t feel pain,
wouldn’t I walk too close to the flame?
What if I had to choose between:
a life of pleasure or a life of pain.
Would I choose a life of comfort,
hiding and imprisoning myself forever.
Or would I choose a life of suffering,
destroying myself in the fire.
Please give me a life long enough and tough enough,
to discover who You are, who We are, and who I am.
Only then will I know,
I can touch the flame without getting burned.
-Mike
May 22, 2015 at 8:59 pm
That’s really beautiful, Mike. Thanks so much for sharing the poet-soul perspective in this unfolding conversation. What you’ve written syncs with some old notes I was reviewing this afternoon from one of David Whyte’s programs (Clear Mind, Wild Heart), talking about how poets (and artists and mystics, etc.) live on the ‘wild frontiers’ of life, ‘beyond the comfort zones which are no comfort at all.” Your comment and poem aligns beautifully with that wisdom! xoxo Jamie
May 22, 2015 at 9:54 pm
Jamie, your old notes remind me of this quote…
“Welcome, O life! I go to encounter for the millionth time the reality of experience and to forge in the smithy of my soul the uncreated conscience of my race.”
― James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
May 22, 2015 at 10:08 pm
Oh wow, that’s powerful. “… forge in the smithy of my soul the uncreated conscience of my race.” Sigh. 🙂