Thunderous brainstorms
Occur in silent flashes
Of inspired rest.
E.R.Urabe
Welcome! It’s our weekly trail ride meet up…
~I’m so happy to see you here~
As we move along the art/life path this is the time of year to literally imagine that we are riding into the sunset…facing West together. It isn’t the classic ‘The End’ scene, the curtain isn’t falling…and yet there is a definite shift happening.
Now conditions are actually meant to be wonderfully challenging. There’s a wobble taking place and for those of us investing and subscribing to all-out commitment…blazing the trail of the art/life…the trail can feel a bit bumpy right now.
The art/life might be defined as: any direction that allows your true nature and deepest widest, read that as wildest, passion to be experienced, expressed, created and contributed.
Let’s look to the West Gate on our yearly wheel…which the equinox now swings open and makes accessible for our entry.
First; a short review of where we’ve come from: the spring (East) and summer (South) are by nature all about doing a lot…picture flat out driven-to-achieve.
The half of the year we’ve just experienced is appropriately dominated by left brain attributes.
Naturally we strive to be equal parts Yin and Yang. It can be evolutionary to get in sync with where balance happens, to learn to see, sense and feel the ways that it visits your art/life.
The left brain masculine side of the cranium needs its time to make it happen; problem solve, be proactive and assert in the direction of visualized strategies and goals. In our northern hemisphere a whole lot happens in the 12 weeks of spring and summer. During those two quadrants the primary energy is Yang/Masculine…outer directed. The spring/summer are led by the left brain which rules the right side of the body. The masculine side serves us well and shows us that it does no harm to creatively engage in the dance of stepping up and stepping out during the spring and summer quadrants of the Natural Year.
Now we come to the …
Turn Turn Turn Inward
Journal drawing, Drozda, 1993
The turn through the West Gate at autumn is a time to re-member the power and the potential of actively making a break from the long-season-of-doing. The dominating part of our thinking needs to rest now. We’ve been busy, so busy moving outward.
Pause to breathe and conceive
Here at the West Gate you will see, reflecting back a different, more naturally nurturing part of your self.
She waits
Here you catch the feel of a vast expansive uncharted, wild, territory beckoning to you…come in…put your nose to the earth, shake off the heaviness of always needing to DO and begin to wander and trust your instincts. The Feminine/Yin…inward turn goes in and also down. Down into the roots of where you come from and who you have now become. Open the gate. The shift toward the Underworld is by its nature disconcerting; ripe with trepidation and even aggravating.
Who teaches you to calm down?
How eager are you to stop the rush and hush the frenetic parts?
After all, we’ve been working so hard! We’re just beginning to get traction! We don’t want to let go of that feeling of control!
OPEN TO RECEIVE
The real gift of the West Gate, this point on the yearly art/life trail ride, is that you can relax into less ‘knowing’. You can rest in the arms of unexpected gifts. Take note of the relationships that you’ve cultivated. Review what’s been growing through all the spring and summer Doing. Now you can begin to slow it down and get reacquainted with your new self, with the wonder of life and with others sharing the trail with you.
Facing West: the relationship gate on the yearly wheel
Following is a peek/peak into creative balance and one way that it may look.
Creative balance is a lovely concept requiring extreme courage
Beautiful reminder: no one has the art/life figured out and the trail all mapped…it ain’t possible…
The art/life is Mystery…indeed, whenever any one of us rides into wandering and wondering territory we create waves in the field that make everything more alive and free.
Become free, become free, become free of attachment
Last week I introduced you to my much respected friend Medea Chechik…this week I share her courageous example of riding into unknown territory. The balance here is in the ‘Yang prominent’ quality that made it possible for Medea to activate and then actualize her goal….coupled with the ‘Yin nature’ of what she trail-blazes. Notice her commitment to share the best of what she is discovering along her art/life trail ride.
Let’s mosey along the trail a piece and listen to a bit of her story:
DEAR AMAZING WOMAN,
We have been working very diligently for the whole Summer creating a VIDEO SUMMIT:
Women Who Love With Wisdom & Power –
Catalyze Your Transformation From Victim To Empowered Co-Creator!
WeEvolve TV – Created and Hosted By Medea Bavarella Chechik and produced by Ivan Palmer
This Women Empowerment Event is my gift to you and is likely to be one of the Most Inspiring Experiences This Year:
Must See!
http://weevolvetv.com/summit/
This is a free Global Event, 13 women experts (including myself) in the field of feminine spirituality and empowerment, interviewed on WeEvolve TV.
Featuring dialogues on women’s ways of healing:
Transformation
Creativity
Empowerment
Evolution
I have been honoured and privileged to have witnessed and experienced incredible and valuable wisdom as well as practical advice and tools on transformation and empowerment, from these powerful women leaders. They are offering easy-to-use strategies for “teaching” other women how to:
BE the Source of their experience
Integrate Self-Love
Empower themselves to be the leaders in their lives
Make their greatest contribution to the world
You will be deeply moved and inspired by these trail-blazers and heroines: Meredith Young Sowers, Adi Kanda, Barbara Denempont, Tina Conte, Jeanne Byrd Romero, Julie Saeger Nierenberg, Erica Ross, Mary C.Davis, Leila Mireskandari, Yesim Savaser, Donna Drozda and KA’Ryna SH’ha.
http://weevolvetv.com/summit/
Transformation, Freedom, Success and Empowerment can be experienced and integrated through shifting/transforming your “identity” from who you have thought yourself to be…to who you truly are:
Divine Feminine Essence!
Yes!
Join 13 Feminine Leaders in Personal Growth, Energy Healing, Empowered success and so much more!
I would like to express my deep gratitude and joy to these 12 women who are modelling and have integrated very beautifully the energy of “Women Who Love With Wisdom & Power” and will be sharing their Presence/wisdom with us on the WeEvolve Summit:
September 30th till Oct 16th.
Sending love & Blessings to all of them, to my partner Ivan Palmer, to myself and to all of YOU!
Medea
Medea’s summit sounds like a lovely way to peak/peek through the West Gate. Imagine that as you begin moving into the fall quadrant of the art/life you come and sit around the campfire. Listen to stories that uplift, move and inspire this turn on the path that we all share.
~ Welcome to the West Gate ~
Please keep in your heart/mind that we learn and support one another on this art/life trail ride. Prepare to leave your comments and your stories of moving in and down as the months ahead unfold. No rush. No hurry.
How do you shift gears and quiet down?
What resistance do you bump up against in nurturing your self?
We’re blazing new trails and pioneering a more inclusive collaborative voice for the creative healing power of experiencing, expressing and contributing our love for this extraordinary time in our art/life.
I’m pondering…How do you shift gears and quiet down prior to entering the west gate? For me it was not an overnight thang. Maybe that was what September allowed me to do. Summer, bareback on my my pony out of the gate and pony’s canter quickly seized the opportunity to gallop. And they were off….!
Returning home after summer capers and service, I began a serious all out sloooow purge. Several experiences led up to this…the poverty I witnessed was the most recent. Prior to, I got this idea in my head…what if were to move in one year, what would/could I take with me? Actually this thought grew out of the knowing that I am inching closer to the other shore. Having had to clear, sort and separate the accumulations of my relations who reached that sacred shore, made me think, I don’t want my kids to have to experience that physical and emotional toll. Reading again, Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Vasalia, added fuel to the heuristic
September was perfect for purging. Beginning with dresser drawers, on to the closet, each room (not finished yet) and the plethora of storage spaces for my art “stuff” Having the luxury of no interference, I could touch each object and every tiny scrap of paper, every every”thing” and reflect and remember and laugh and cry and decide the best destiny for each bit of accumulation. This was powerful cathartic medicine. Being on “Indian” time, all manner of purging manifested. Physical space clearing led to emotional absolving and spiritual cleansing, a whole lotta healing taking place. My daily foray into nature and particularly my sacred little outdoor space brought new awareness and a different kind of communication, a real listening. Which of course can only be done by slowing down my own rampant interruptions. So, after that ramble, I’ve come to the conclusion that this particular slow down was/is much different from my other experiences and much more valuable because I actually engaged in a month of metacognition.
Thank you Iona for this platform.
Hi Cindy
“metacognition” now there’s a term for where the trail ride may lead as the path goes deeper and wider inward during this coming six moon/months.
Recognizing the potential to invest lovingkindness into all aspects of our engagements from closet contents down to scraps of paper as what is no longer fitting is released. Powerful message. Much appreciated as a point of reflection as we travel on. Thanks so much for painting the words.
Thank you so much for your timely words of wisdom, D. I HAD noticed the bumps. My horse was really tired and I knew it was time to rest but I didn’t want to. Autumn seems to come so hard on the heels of summer that it doesn’t seem possible that all that outward light-shining can already be over! Yes, I’ve felt the call to turn inwards. Now thanks to you, I’ll answer with more grace 😉
Hello Ms. C
Yes…grace to the pace.
Let’s support one another as this fall to winter quadrant unfolds. We help one another, as your comment here does, in remembering to take a step back when the ride gets too bumpy to feel lined up with our highest creative good.
Giddy-up…with an easy does it 😉
What a relief to know that part of the fatigue I feel is the natural winding down at this time of year. I love the trail ride theme and the idea of ‘going west’. At heart, I’m a western kind of girl. Turning inward feels comfortable and a place I often long for. Yet, there is also some resistance to really go there. This year I set an intention to be in relationship with myself in a more loving and joy-full way. It is definitely time. Being free of attachment brings freedom to ride the range. Happy Trails. Ah-ho.
Thanks Sara for your reflection on the tendency to feel like a nap is in order…it truly can be used as a signal…take a moment. Relax. Begin to consider a bit less activity…EVEN in the midst of being active it’s a great practice to imagine making space and slowing the pace.
Ah-ho!!