“What is your spirit calling for?”
My spirit has been calling for silence.
Two weeks from now I’ll be at a silent retreat; four days of silence, rest and nourishment at all levels.
The silence has been calling for months, but I have not been listening.
I’ve ignored it, been busy, rescheduled it twice and dismissed the need.
I have been unwilling to honour the call.
Until now.
“Silence is sometimes the best answer.” – Dalai Lama
I have surrendered, given myself over, and booked off four full days (96 hours) of blissful, sometimes confronting silence.
The Spirit Dancer? Is satisfied.
And you?
- What has your spirit been calling for?
- How will you honour that call?
I’ve been coming over here to your place for enough Your Words Wednesdays to know that you ought to add “taking the right pictures at the right time” to your talents. Another awesome! shot; you know I so look forward to them.
My spirit has been calling for one scheduled *personal* day/week. My spirit assures me when I balk and say, “but it’s ok, spirit, I’m not working, I’m having fun”, that NOT working is also good for business.
(YOU know, when your business IS personal, and you work out of your home, and you’re having fun, the lines between the two get blurred. Even though I say I know all of the benefits of “recharging your batteries”, I’m not doing it consistently. Hmm, must be because of the disadvantages I see…)
Wait! SandiDearest! (You and your questions!)
As I type this, I realize that’s not really the main issue. I spend plenty of time with me, with my family “not working.” What my spirit really wants a break from is “but I should be/could be working” when I’m “not working.”
So, my spirit is calling me to honor the right now, since right now is the all the time I’ll ever have.
(Wish I could link back to your Precious Hours post here!)
I’m really glad you asked this.
Since I know you really do care about us and our hows and that’s why you ask…the way that I’ll do that is to recognize the personal time I have when I’m actually IN it, the same way that I do when I’m mindfully eating, or mindfully not eating. I expect I will feel the same satisfaction.
(You might also tell me that it might be a good place for me to use those 2 little words you were talking about…)
Thanks for the questions; you always get something useful stirred up, often much beyond what I come up with initially, but that’s your superpower.
Have a wonderful time honoring your spirit at the retreat! Will you be writing about it? (Or have you already?) I’m already fascinated by how much must come out of the silence… I can feel my spirit saying that it really wants to do it! And I can see my spirit’s point…as much as I enjoy meditating, a silent retreat must be like meditation on steroids!
xoK
The big a-ha for me in this was the realization that the silent retreats for me are essential. They are fundamental to my being my best, most authentic self. When I don’t honour the call? Oy, the consequences aren’t pretty. I knew that intellectually for a long time. Last year I got it completely, I’d go so far as to say at a cellular level. The cost of not honouring the call had become too great.
Now that’s just one fundamental in my life! Imagine if I honoured another, and another, and another…
Oh, but takes us over to the Juicy Life 😉
That just sounds amazing, Sandi. With three little ones running around, 96 hours of silence would be like Nirvana 🙂
But seriously, there is so much to be gained from dwelling in a peaceful silence: the oneness of mind and body; the resting of spirit from daily distractions; the insights about self and being to be gained.
As for me? My spirit is longing for the ability to help more people and change the course of this little world of ours. Practically speaking, it’s about a career change; about getting things in order so that I have more time and resources to devote to this work; to further my personal development so that I may help others more.
All with time. One foot in front of the other, moving forward.
I can’t wait to hear how you make out with your retreat.
Oh Bill, It is so amazing! Even without the little ones rounding around here, it’s Nirvana for me. Seems odd to me sometimes because I am very people oriented and extroverted, but I think the extended silence nourishes me better than anything else I’ve tried. I come home from the retreat more nourished and creative than ever, ideas bursting out of me effortlessly. I love that feeling.
As for your call? There’s no better formula than one foot in front of the other. Your blog is an expression of your commitment to honouring the call. I really get that when I read your posts; consistently inspiring and authentic.
Stay tuned on post retreat posts!
Finally finally got round to clicking on RSS. However I look out for your links on twitter.
re the spirit speaking to me. The message is stand still Jane.
Stop!Be still…
Think
Feel
Think Think Think
Listen
Realise.
Decide
Confirm.
So I have been.
After confirm came have courage.
Act.
and in the think think think was your What if? post…
timely.
Listen, realize, decide…those 3 words struck home for me Jane. They are definitely part of my own process. I like the word listen vs. hear. I often hear the call, I don’t always listen.
What if we listened more often?
PS what plug in do you use for your comments it is soooooo easy to use.
I use the Disqus plug-in for comments. Love it except for one thing; it’s not compatible with Comment Luv (I miss that plug-in).