September 10, 2021
I’ve noticed that when I am curious about something or begin to focus on a word or idea, the Universe responds with messages and manifestations. People call or show up, books come across my radar, opportunities arrive at my doorstep. The Universe knows exactly what I need, but it waits for an opening. This summer was a challenging and tiring one for our family, so I started thinking about fun. I concentrated on that word and imagined myself laughing, feeling good, relaxing, and enjoying friends. It started showing up, like bright streaks of sunlight breaking through the clouds. During a difficult season, the Universe responded to my memo. We are living through a monumental shift in our country, and it can feel heavy and exhausting. It’s easy to get discouraged and overwhelmed, even amid signs of hope and courage. In addition to imagination and intention, a shift in perspective can create an opening in our lives. As I concentrate on ideas that are empowering, uplifting, and inclusive, they gather energy and strength. Whatever we think about takes shape in our lives, whether it is based in love or in fear. We have the power to create openings and connections, or to allow fear to close us in. We choose which path to take with our thoughts, words, and actions. This choice includes what and who we listen to, believe, and trust. Sometimes the waters we’re navigating are murky and muddy. Writing is a vehicle for sorting out our thoughts, concerns, frustrations, and hopes. It creates an opening to our inner wisdom. When I sit down with my journal, I breathe, relax, and start writing. I like the feeling of the pen moving along the page. Sometimes I get the urge to doodle and use different colors. I connect with my wise and creative self and settle into that safe, comfy space. I love this process. I lower my bucket into the deep well within where the water is crystal clear and refreshing. I don’t have to figure out this life; I just need to be present with it. It helps to learn to accept and embrace whatever shows up. Pema Chodron says everything that shows up in our lives is an opening to enlightenment. Even (or especially) those things that we think are rotten, smelly, irritating, and uncomfortable. We don’t like this memo. We move toward enlightenment when we learn to be with whatever it is, as it is, without judgment, and to feel all of it. Leaning into our feelings instead of trying to escape them forges an opening. “Writing is a way not only to metabolize life but to alchemize it as well. It is a way to transform what happens to us into our own experience. It is a way to move from passive to active. We may still be the victims of circumstance, but by our understanding those circumstances we place events within the ongoing context of our own life, that is, the life we ‘own.’ Owning something also means owning up to something….accepting responsibility, which means, literally, response-ability” (Julia Cameron, The Right to Write). Cameron points out that writing empowers us and tells us that we have choices. It tells us what those choices are. We are the authors of our own lives, and our lives communicate what we think, feel, and believe. When Gandhi was once asked what his message to the people was, he replied, “My life is my message.” Whatever vehicle you use to connect, create, and communicate, let it be an ongoing source of discovery. Let it open you to the deep well within and fill your bucket. Anything you wish to experience, accomplish, and become starts right where you are. That is the entry point, the opening. Use your imagination and intention. Say to yourself, “I am here now. I am enough. I am.” Here you connect to the I AM that is creating and expressing through you, as you. When you open wider to life, love and laughter, the Universe responds with cheers and confetti! The brilliance and beauty of your inner light break through and illumine your world. This is how you rock your life and spread your glory. Cheers, ej Elisa J. Juarez
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