Does It Leave a Hole?

In my early working life before I found my calling as a Healer, I worked at a job, which for me had become quite burdensome. When I thought about quitting, I saw all the people who depended on me and all the projects waiting to be done. I spoke with my father about it all. I told him I wanted to leave but felt like I was needed too much to do so.

He asked me to close my eyes, then to picture a bucket of water with a ladle in it. Curious about his seemingly random request, I did as he asked.

"The bucket is your job; the water all the work needing to be done; you are the ladle", he explained.

"Now, lift the ladle out of the bucket. Did it leave a hole?"

I smiled very big and the weight on my shoulders slipped off. What a wonderful way of telling me to get over myself AND to stop letting the job control my life.

This is the best gift my father has ever given me - well, after giving me life. I so clearly remember how stressed my body felt before and then how relaxed after this guided imagery. Whenever my body feels that same stress, I pull out that bucket and ask that same question: Does it leave a hole?

And once again, the answer is no!

I have recently commited to a series of 3 short sabbaticals. Sunday, Monday and Tuesday for 3 weeks I don't go into the clinic or to any meetings. For three days I do whatever I feel called to do. The sabbaticals give me the time and space I need to discern what serves and what no longer serves.

My fears around taking this time included: losing clients; sleeping it all away; being asked to do something I didn't feel prepared to do; finding I was totally off path; being asked to leave Ellensburg and, having absolutely nothing of consequence happen.

My expectations were somewhat more modest; I simply decided to expect to be open to the experience and its consequences. And, I thought the Land would call me out onto it in a really big way.

The first week I did sleep and I slept really really well. I also was pulled out of my time for myself several times and in ways that really and truly served me. When someone said they could only see me on monday, I found myself saying to a colleague that I simply could not always be available for clients. As I spoke these words to her, I heard them myself - and what a good sound that was. Thank you Spirit! I could only have listened to myself on that one and so the Universe created the experience that would allow me to say and hear it.

The second interruption of my sacred time was the rescheduling of a talk I had agreed to give at a Vegetarian Society meeting. The date was changed at the last minute. The topic was my work. And so, on the first of the sabbaticals I was led to examine and speak about my work. A new friend on FaceBook also asked me this question just before my time began.

I just completed the recording of my first CD, a compilation of healing songs. Promoting the CD will certainly take some time and will shift my work. How will it do that is the question. The guidance I received on my first sabbatical was that I got to decide. It is up to me.

Through dreams, interruptions, meditations and long talks with my higher self it became very clear to me that my gifts and talents can meet so many needs. At one point I became overwhelmed with the sense of all the needs for my work. I felt burdened by it all. Then Spirit whispered in my ear.

"You cannot meet all of these needs - you are only one person - let others play too!"

OK, I thought, but how do I chose?

"Delight in the choices! The abundance of opportunities means you get to choose the ones that you want to do. Choose the ones that give you the most joy, fun, comfort... Choose what you WANT to do. It is time for you to choose how this path unfolds. Trust the Universe and know that whatever you choose, it will not leave a hole."

And so, I practice this by staying in the moment and choosing what I want to do in that moment. I find I have spent a good deal of time in the last few years not doing what I want to do and letting others pilot my life way too much. I also find choosing is like getting back on a bike. I have not forgotten how. (And there are no holes. And I have more clients than I had last week.)

Blessed Be!

Let's Begin!

Simplify! Is that like semper fi?

We Healers tend to need pretty streamlined lives. And every now and then, it's time to simplify. To simplify requires a certain faithfulness and even a revealing of that which one is truly willing to be faithful to. Semper Fi! I must admit to a certain delight in the image of Marines sailing in to help. I feel certain the job would get done. And with the right supervision, it would be done well.

But there's no getting around the fact that even if the Marines show up I've got to at least supervise this task of simplifying!

I already live in a small town in a very small one bedroom duplex. I don't have "stuff" in terms of the physical world. But I still feel the need and I am committed to simplifying in a few spots as well.

This time the process of simplifying takes place in the mind and heart. (Yes, I see what you mean: the Marines might get lost in this particular landscape! Perhaps they can just stand guard while I do the work and while I'm adjusting to the changes.)

I have been itchy, discontented, even a bit twitchy of late. I feel a great need to move, to forge ahead, to claim something! But - to stay with the Marine analogy - I also feel like I have about 20 fully loaded packs: several on my back, a couple on each limb, one balancing on my head and the rest just piled in front of me. Moving ahead is unlikely. Got to get rid of these packs!

So, I have in the last few weeks spent time perusing them and even rearranging them aesthetically. These packs are not filled with useless clutter or trash. Nope, they hold worthwhile responsibilities, duties and endeavors. You see, I'm very skilled and capable. I'm also highly motivated by community development and worthy causes. There is not one pack here that I can't carry well and enjoy myself while doing so. So eliminating them on the basis of worth will not be helpful.

So I step back and look at the total. My first reaction is a visceral need for a very long nap. Or....? Maybe I could just run awa..., I mean move. But, I'm pretty sure I'd find another 20 packs wherever I go. Some key needs to be found.

I hear myself saying to a client, "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should."

Hmmm? How many of these packs do I carry just because I am able? An honest answer to this question has several packs disappearing. I can facilitate a meeting and do all the details required, but the stress involved robs me of any potential joy. Resign!

Now some of the packs seem to be turning a bit red, like a red herring. Such lovely distractions these are - for the moment. However, I seem to be getting farther and farther away from the goal. When I pick the packs up, it feels like I am helping but when I look at it clearly, I see it as just busy work that neither serves me or the organization I do it for. Another group of packs disappear.

I look at one next to me: "Singing in the choir". It's fun, it's part of my work, it helps the community! Well..., the actual singing is fun. But that's only about 10% of the commitment. The rest of it feels like a burden. Wow, I didn't see that coming! How many others are like this? Shit! Too many. Ok! Ok! I'm purging. It feels like crap quitting on people.... for about 10 minutes. Then I start feeling my energy surge and even sense some creativity perculating. I'm getting the hang of this.

Now I'm down to the last few packs and I'm stumped. These are my work, the things I feel strongly called to do. I can't just toss any of them aside. I'm committed to the work.

"Ask a different question," I hear from a Spirit Guide.

"OK, how can I do my work without feeling burdened?"

"Closer," she encourages, "but keep trying."

"What aspects of my work are sustainable for me over a long period of time?"

"That's a really good start," she declares.

I sit down with the intention of carefully going through each pack to find the answer. I open the first and find it is empty. I put it down with a lot of confusion. From here, it looks filled to the brim. I look inside again and see nothing. "You're going to have to help me here, I tell my Spirit Guide."

Graciously, she smiles and tips the pack upside down. Again, nothing. "You carry your skills around like a pack. You need to learn to understand that they are simply part of you - not something outside of you to carry around and keep track of. You cannot lose these skills any longer. You have developed them beyond the need to constantly attend to them. Holding them outside yourself gives them a weight that soon becomes burdensome. This weighs you down; you're serving the skill instead of the skill being a tool to help you do your work. These packs are empty, release them!"

Three packs now remain. All have value. All speak to me. How do I choose?

"The one that has true heart for you will sit well on your shoulders. It will be, even at it's most challenging, easy to carry. If it comes with heart you will have joy in carrying it. That joy will give you more than carrying that pack will ever take. This is a new lesson for you. It is time for you to choose what you desire, what feeds you, what sustains you."

I have chosen.