Divine Discontent: Learning to Live by Your Own Lights

Grace strikes us when we are in great pain and restlessness. . . . Sometimes at that moment a wave of light breaks into our darkness, and it is as though a voice were saying: "You are accepted."
-PAUL JOHANNES TILUCH

When we practice switching on the "spiritual electricity" that Julia Cameron speaks of in her wonderful book, The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path To Inner Creativity, what should we expect?

More energy and inspiration, amazing and delightful coincidences, and the ability to accomplish goals with grace?

Yes, certainly. That has, at least, been my experience.

But one thing you might not expect-one thing that might throw you is how dissatisfied you may feel when the Power is not present, when you are in the dark and left to your own devices because you forgot to turn the switch on.

I have learned that asking is the only way to activate spiritual electricity. It is always there for me, but I always have to ask for it.

The dissatisfaction you can feel when the switch is off manifests itself in different ways. Suddenly you don't like any room in your house.

Decorating mistakes from past lives haunt you. Your clothes don't fit or look right on you anymore. You're bored with the meals you're cooking.

You're sick of opening the front hall closet and covering your head. But worse, that expansive, even giddy hopefulness that came from starting to integrate gratitude into your life gives way to restless discontent.

You begin to think that the Simple Abundance path might work for some women, but it's not right for you. Hold on. As the English historian Dame Cicely Veronica Wedgwood points out, "Discontent and disorder [are] signs of energy and hope, not of despair."

What is going on is part of the process.

I call it Divine Discontent.

It is the grit in the oyster before the pearl.

This creative second chance is when we come into our own.

When we finally claim our own lives and wrestle our futures from fate.

When we learn how to spin straw into gold.

When we realize gratefully that we can live by our own lights if we access the Power.

Ask for it. Claim it. Today.

Discover Yourself

One of the surprises that comes when you catch glimpses of your authentic self is the discovery that she's such a positive, upbeat woman. She's always smiling. She's always calm. She's always reassuring. She exudes confidence. Who is this woman, you might ask, and does she bear any resemblance to you?

Yes and no. This is who you are on the inside. The real you. If you don't act this way all the time, it's simply because you haven't evolved to a high¬er plane of existence yet. Neither have I. Marianne Williamson believes this will come when we "embrace the Goddess" who resides within. "When a woman falls in love with the magnificent possibilities within herself, the forces that would limit those possibilities hold less and less sway over her," she writes in A Woman's Worth.

But occasionally, we get glimmers of what it's like on this higher plane: on a good-hair day; when we've had twelve hours of sleep; when we soar through a business meeting, thoroughly prepared; when we fit into last year's clothes; when we throw a great party and everyone enjoys them¬selves immensely. When moments like these occur, we tend to think that all's right with the world. Everything just fell into place. What we don't realize is that all's right with ourselves. We're in the flow of life and loving it. We're in place: that special alignment when authenticity and reality merge into Wholeness.

But how do we tap into this spiritual energy source more often? How do we access the flow of life more frequently? How do we learn to live at full throttle?

Meditation helps. So do long walks, soaks in scented bubble baths, wash¬ing our hair a day before it needs it, smiling at everyone we meet, being more gentle with ourselves, watching a sunrise or a sunset, petting an ani¬mal, playing with a child, having some small pleasure to look forward to every day, being grateful.

But above all, being open to change. Welcoming it. "Watch. Wait. Time will unfold and fulfill its purpose," Marianne Williamson advises. "While we wait, we must not go unconscious. We must think ap__w. Rejoice and dream, but kneel and pray. There is holiness in the air today; we are giving birth to goddesses. They are who we are, for they are us: friends, therapists, artists; businesswomen, teachers, healers, mothers. Start laughing, girls. We have a new calling."

Source: Simple Abundance

Self Discovery

Many creation myths say it took only six days to make the world. It will take us a little longer to remake our own. But we can begin where Spirit did by declaring that there be Light to illuminate our journey of self-discovery.

The Quaker tradition teaches that this Light is within each of us. The Quakers, or members of the Religious Society of Friends, are a perfect example of individuals who manage the delicate balance of living in the world but not belonging to it. This is because they refuse to segment their lives into the Sacred and the secular. Instead, Quakers believe that all of life's daily experiences are spiritual in nature, from preparing a family meal to protesting political policy. The British writer George Gorman has observed that "the essence of Quaker spirituality is the certainty that everything we do has religious significance. It is not cutting ourselves off from life but entering deeply and fully into it."

Simplicity is the common thread that stitches together Quaker lives, homes, and dress. Their weekly worship service, or Meeting, is a silent meditation. Rhythm, reverence, and reflection are their hallmarks. These touchstones can help us as well as we attempt to remake our personal world.

Restoring a sense of rhythm to our lives is the first step. How much rhythm do you have in your personal world? Children are not the only ones who need regular bedtimes, mealtimes, and quiet times. Their mothers do, too. Think of the steady, reassuring rhythm of the natural world-the ebb and flow of the tides, the recurring cycle of the four seasons, the monthly phases of the moon, and the daily progression from day into night. Rhythm needs to be the cornerstone in our personal world as well. All of us lead busy lives, some more frantic and frazzled than others. We need to learn where to draw the line and how to say "no."

Today be willing to reflect quietly on the role that rhythm plays in your daily life. Your heart will always tell you what's working and what's not. Restoring rhythm to the way you conduct your affairs can bring you contentment and a sense of well-being that will nurture and sustain you when the cares of the world can't be left behind.

Source: Simple Abundance