Rip Currents, a Goldfinch, and Body Talk

A goldfinch visited me this afternoon - he perched on a top branch like an angel on a Christmas tree.  I just happened to be looking out the window when he landed; I watched and listened as he sang his heart out - and I allowed my heart to sing with his!  My song started out heavy and confused, but lightened as it joined his song.  What a lovely and unexpected gift!

It has been hard to write, mostly because I find this experience of "groundlessness" to be simultaneously rich and terrifying.  I do like my structure - knowing what is going to happen next - and appreciate the experience of the unknown best in the abstract.  This is not abstract.

I have chosen to stay with the uncertainty and groundlessness of this experience - to not get out of the water even with the shifting sands and their accompanying rip currents.  The key to surviving a rip is to not panic and fight them (so they say) - swim parallel to the shore (relax and go with the flow) until you break free.  I got caught in an emotional/spiritual rip today and found the advice to be helpful.  Not fighting and working with the energy was ultimately better than pushing against it.  I eventually made it back to shore.  Phew!

Along with these emotional/spiritual swimming lessons, a new avenue of discernment has been prominent this past week.  Although I had read that our bodies contain wisdom and speak to us of what is/is not helpful/healing for us, I have never test driven this discernment method.  I brought my awareness to my body and have been paying attention to the truth it is speaking, and have been amazed at the wisdom that is held by the body - incarnational wisdom.  I listen with surprise, and awe, and no small amount of gratitude.  Perhaps in time I can act on what I hear.

Shamans say the presence of a goldfinch indicates the willingness to be open to learning from unlikely and unusual sources.  May my heart remain open to wisdom in all her many forms.

How are you encountering the voice of wisdom in your life?

Singing with the goldfinch,
Kim