believe we need concrete answers, just glimmers and suggestions. In our technology-oriented world we are becoming more disconnected from one another and nature. We can’t be a champion of either unless we stay connected.
A person entering a room can dramatically influence the energy. Aren’t there people you know who just make you want to be around them, their energy is so warm and inviting? I will sometimes try to engage strangers with good energy in conversation, connect with them. The energy exchange feeds my spiritual curiosity and hunger and hopefully the other person’s, too. Sometimes, if I am receptive, it even brings clarity to something I’ve been struggling with. Remaining responsibly open to the good energy out there makes the universe seem full of wonder and all possibilities limitless. You may be surprised to suddenly meet someone who helps you find the answers you have been searching for. Come to expect it. There are no accidents, and people come into our lives because we have attracted them. They are here for a reason.
I am not advocating striking up conversations with absolutely everyone you encounter or forging relationships instantly. A meaningful connection can be as simple as smiling, opening your eyes, or listening. Beware of energy leeches in the world—the ones who latch on and suck you dry without replenishing your energy stores. If you allow them into your life, they will not leave until you not only ask them but believe yourself that is what you want. You won’t attract them into your life if your emotions and energy are clear and in line. Some seeker leeches don’t know that they do this, and others may be sly enough to know exactly what they are doing. All relationships in the universe are reciprocal. They may be lopsided at times, but the point is that they even out at some point. Your intuitive radar will speak to you about people as well as places, so make sure you pay attention. When you give all of yourself away to other people’s problems and energy requirements, not only is there nothing left for you, but you are hiding and denying yourself your own desires. Let your own light shine.
When we live consciously, we can recognize our own power as that given in connection with all things greater than ourselves. By being conscious in every sense and with every sense, we can create sacred space around us every day and everywhere. Creating sacred space grounds us in the present and assures us of our place in the world. Sacred spaces, the open moments, tiny cracks in the time continuum when we leave all spiritual, psychological, and sociological obstacles behind us, lower walls and invite abundance and wonder in. By recognizing and remembering joy, we create sacred spaces. Creating sacred spaces changes our relationship to the hour and the day, to ourselves, to others, and to the universe. We observe the extraordinary in the everyday and are humbled and reborn.
We create sacred space by inviting others in, letting down boundaries, and letting go of fear. Sacred space is created when we make eye contact with our fellow man and woman on the street, no longer strangers but fellow travelers we have invited into our immediate universe. It is connections between people, intimacy at its height, acknowledgment of another’s existence, bonding us together now in this time and place. Sacred space is that fleeting speck of worldly time and connection that exists between a father and daughter, as when my four-year-old niece suddenly stops walking to urgently whisper a secret into her father’s ear—fleeting in time but everlasting in spirit and connection.
AWAKENING SPIRITUAL CONNECTIONS
Regina Sara Ryan describes in her fine book, The Woman Awake: Feminine Wisdom for Spiritual Life, her reaction to experiencing Janis Joplin perform for the first time, illustrating the power and glory of music from the soul:
When Janis sang the blues, she stabbed you with the suffering of humanity, and you felt your own suffering. I wept for completely selfish reasons. With each uninhibited rendering of song after song, I felt more acutely and bitterly my own inability and unwillingness to swing out, open up, “tell it like it is” in my art and work. I wept for my smallness of heart and for the thousand daily choices to make life comfortable rather than leave it somewhat raw, clumsy, open-ended and rife with possibility.
Connecting to dormant or hidden passions in our soul can give rise to great inspiration. We forget to look at what lies within and we forget how to awaken what is sleeping there. Music and dance and art are means to use to connect to parts of us that we don’t often reveal. Turn that car radio up high and sing at the top of your lungs. Dance with your partner in the kitchen before dinner tonight. Pull out photos from long ago and study the faces. Remember how you feel.
HONORING MEMORIES
Honoring memories by giving them space in your heart is another way of connecting. The tactile, the ephemeral, dreams, sounds, and aromas that transport us to other times, places, and planes of consciousness; they are the memories of those we have known, places we have been, adventures we have dared. Memories house our fears, our sadness, and our rapture.
How are you connected in this world? What is your history? Where do you get your strength, your commitment, your talents, your hazel eyes, and your aversion to orange food? What people, relatives, or friends impacted your life growing up? How? Describe some of your most vivid memories. Do you remember any little details of the scenes? How do you think they have influenced you and decisions you have made? Who is influencing you now? Our family or tribal connections can be complicated, but for better or for worse, it is how we receive our early information about life and how to live.
I remember piling into my grandfather Bud’s green Mustang convertible with my sister and brother on summer nights when we were young and it stayed light until bedtime. We climbed in with our pajamas on, and he would drive around with the three of us squished in the backseat. I was usually in the middle, and we would lean our heads way back and watch the sky blur by. I don’t remember any sounds except the trees in the wind. We all stayed very quiet. It is a memory that takes me right back to the moment, and even when it was happening I was nowhere else but right there as the landscape melted around me. It was a time of few worries, when most things were bigger than us but in a free and wonderful way. Memories are elusive phantoms and we all store them away differently, but this is one I carry with me always. My brother and sister may hold it as a part of their stories in other ways, but it is there somewhere, just the same.
THE GODDESSES
I belong to a women’s group. We call ourselves the Goddesses—no disrespect or undue vanity intended. I don’t even remember just how the name came about. We have been getting together faithfully once a month for six years for dinner, laughter, conversation, and the chance just to be women for a few moments. Once a year or so we sneak away for a weekend to spend time outdoors at the ocean or in the woods. It isn’t always easy for spouses and partners to understand the need we have for one another, the strength we gain from our connection and simply being together. We come back to them transformed each time, our spirits renewed, our wells refilled. One goddess’s husband loves it when she has a weekend with the group because she always returns with a passionate appetite.
We are artists, writers, businesswomen, teachers, mothers, wives, daughters, partners; married, divorced, single; employers, employees, and self-employed. We are thirty-something, forty-something and fifty-something—outdoorsy, indoorsy, dramatic, and shy. But when we come together each month, we are women. We need no other title. It is a refuge from expectations. It is the glory of no-strings-attached connecting with acceptance and love.
Each of us in the group has been lovingly carried through bumpy times. We have been mentored, cajoled, and lauded through brave change, confusion, new relationships, grief, loss, and triumph alike. The energy created by our connection is tremendous. We often joke that the estrogen levels in spaces we occupy could take out a small army. I realize that this kind of group is not for everyone and there are other ways to make connections. Some women have come and stayed, others have moved away for work life, and love. Still others have sniffed around a little and moved on, not finding what they needed or not arriving at the right time.
Making connections with others isn’t always easy. We are thrown
