Harvest Courage to CREATE what you want in 2021
Ah, autumnal flowers! After a really gorgeous summer of hot weather, bright, lush foliage, abundant birds, and coyotes roaming the streets where I live, the wild days of this crazy, masked summer are gone. We in the midwest are at the very tale-end of nature’s exquisite seasonal transition into sun-lit golds, rusts and muted greens. Masses of leaves are piled up under the increasingly naked trees once again. When I experience this reminder of the cycle of life and death, there comes, every year, a mix of deep gratitude, spurts of great sadness, and ultimately, surrender into the stillness of winter’s long, slow, icy pause.
For me, this particular autumn had a spell of bigger-than-usual dread to it.
In these midwestern parts, where the rate of covid is scarily high as I write this, the disease invited in a fear of greater isolation and imagined loneliness, too, as I pictured myself contracted by frigid temps, alone, and at home. I had many really happy, long sunny days in nature this summer, and safe, outdoor socializing which was lovely, but those days and opportunities are gone. I had to face the loss and face my fear of isolation, because there is no way around loss and fear but to face them.
But after looking at fear in its face, I soon realized that for me, winter could actually turn out to be a rich, productive time. I could work on my writing, finish my new website (which will be reborn soon), launch some new classes, perfect my baking and soup making, file away my stacks of papers needing organizing, and maybe even get my taxes done by February! Those would be worthy goals, indeed. The prospect of getting this stuff done, of hanging in and probably even discovering unexpected, unimagined joy that the Universe has in mind for me – all this actually began to feel like something to look forward to.
We’ve all been through so much this year. I deeply hope that all of us can harvest the courage that has come from traveling a really hard journey in 2020, a journey that’s not over yet. I hope we can utilize this courage to create a vision for ourselves – as our highest Self- and keep stepping more fully into that vision, in the times ahead.
Have you begun to consider what you might want to create in 2021?
Who are you becoming in this next phase of pandemic life and political strife? We’ve been forever changed by the intense events this year, and, in a sense, we have a fresh start; a fresh start because pre-pandemic consciousness is going up in flames like all the horrifying wildfires. We’re burning off a lot of unawareness. We’re waking up because we have to — we’re getting the proverbial bucket of water dumped on us and a long, slow whack on the head to boot. Of course some are still asleep and seem to be refusing to awaken. That’s a choice, or perhaps karma — though no doubt both.
Who do YOU want to be now that you’re awakening? If you are reading this, you are awakening and growing by leaps and bounds into awareness. What stance do you want to take? What meaning do you desire for your life? What do you want to create?
Being aware of who we authentically are is priceless. Knowing our desires, goals, and values can point us toward greater success in manifesting our soul’s intentions for this lifetime. The things that limit us include hanging on to past hurts and conditioning, ingratitude, inner conflict, lack of self-acceptance, lack of self-love, and other forms of self-sabotage. Often we need help to discard the baggage, to reconnect to our authenticity, and to have the courage to persevere on our path to reclaiming our innate wholeness and spiritual empowerment.
Shamanic healing can help with this journey.
